The comprehensive redevelopment of a partially vacant and underused city centre site, bringing 383 new homes and plenty of leisure offer for new residents and the catalyst for the restoration of culturally important Black Friar public house.
What we did
We led on negotiations with the local planning authority, working closely with Salboy and 5plus Architects to devise a scheme that retained and restored the culturally important and long-term vacant Great II listed Black Friar public house at its heart.
The Private Rented Sector (PRS) presented a new format for urban living, meaning we had to build a clear narrative to demonstrate its benefit and why it should be supported.
The challenge
Until the 2010s, new residential schemes in city centres were by and large built around the traditional model of open market apartments for sale or rent.
The PRS model shifted this perspective entirely.
Already well established and popular in the United States and elsewhere, PRS schemes offered residents more than an apartment, providing communal areas like gyms, lounges, laundrettes and more.
The Local Blackfriars PRS proposal threw plenty of legitimate questions into the air around what planning use class it fell into (it’s just the same as non-PRS schemes: C3) and how it was going to function.
On top of all that, the culturally special and statutorily listed pub, Black Friar, needed to be sensitively restored and was to become the focal point of the scheme. The vacant pub had previously secured planning permission but had failed to be restored and remained a challenging site for the council to unlock.
The solution
We prioritised up front and early engagement with the local planning authority, reassuring the council from the outset that the pub wouldn’t be demolished.
And we took the time to explain the concept of PRS, highlighting its benefits and how “added extras” would enhance the scheme and help to create community in this particular part of the city centre.
Mindful of these two elements, the scheme design went through various iterations, through constructive dialogue with the council, to ultimately reach the best design for the site.
Two new build apartment blocks, reaching 12 and 16 storeys, opened up the site with active frontages, bringing activity and vibrancy to Trinity Way, Garden Lane and Blackfriars Road. The design, which incorporated an area of quality public realm at the site’s heart, related well to the pub and other nearby listed buildings.
The grade II listed Black Friar pub was fully and sensitively refurbished (a vast improvement from its derelict status beforehand) and a single storey extension added. The apartment buildings were set further back to maintain views of the pub itself.
The benefits
A scheme of firsts, Salboy’s Blackfriars was one of the first high density proposals to come forward in the city after the financial crisis, painting clear signs that the market was starting to move again.
Salford city council’s eye was already on Salford Central and Greengate, both of which were regeneration priorities for which development frameworks were adopted in 2009 and 2014.
Chapel Wharf (within which the application site lay) didn’t get its own development framework until 2022, meaning Salboy’s Black friars scheme was initially an outlier. But Blackfriars provided the catalyst to demonstrate that this part of Salford really was part of the regional city centre. Its success showed that high density schemes this side of the river were an opportunity to be embraced.
In putting forward a clear submission for a really high quality scheme, Blackfriars drove density and height (in line with the city council’s wider ambitions for its city centre). We demonstrated the suitability of scale and density in this location, helping build momentum across the city. This ripple effect is seen in the subsequent delivery of 55 QueenStreet and Obsidian.
The PRS movement has been part of the inevitable shift of urban living, providing an offering for a new generation of city dwellers looking for more than an apartment, but an experience, too.
Looking back, there’s no doubt that the city centre of Salford has transformed. It’s full of life and new generations of residents enjoying and experiencing this great regional city centre, everywhere you look.
