The Angel Square building has required roughly £100 million in development funding since work began in 2010. The resulting construction is distinctive, with its design having been described in various ways, but most commonly, it seems to look like a 15-storey sliced egg. Work on 1 Angel Square, which is nearly 325,000 sqft of Manchester office space, is expected to be completed within the third quarter of 2012 and before the end of the summer. Around 3,000 Co-operative Group employees start working from the open-plan office space tower soon after and for many years.
The Angel Square project spearheads the wider NOMA development effort but should eventually lead to the radical transformation of a relatively neglected area of central Manchester. It was announced in March 2011 that the development would be referred to as NOMA, formed from a convergence of its global geographical location at 53º (used in its logo) North and its city location, Manchester.
Plans for the district are to see significant regeneration over the next ten to 15 years, with delivery targets set very high as developers aim to make a tangible difference to Manchester’s international reputation. Ultimately, the £800 million NOMA project is expected to deliver 1.5 million sq ft of new office space and 1 million sq ft of prime refurbished offices, 200,000 sq ft of hotel accommodation and 300,000 sq ft of retail space. There should also be somewhere close to a million sq ft of residential accommodation.
This means the upcoming launch of The Co-operative Group’s new headquarters looks likely to herald a significant period of urban regeneration in the heart of Manchester. A not dissimilar effort in the nearby Spinningfields area of the city continues to win regional and international plaudits, with dozens of global companies operating out of office space at several newly built locations.
The group recently announced it is to carry out a £150 million sale and leaseback of 1 Angel Square. This will go some way towards contributing to the scheme’s future funding. Although The Co-operative Group bankrolled the cost of building its own headquarters, the rest of the scheme will be developed in partnership with developers Delancey and Landid.
Editor’s notes: This article covers progress on the NOMA scheme and The Co-Operative Group’s launch of the Co-Op Live arena in 2024.