Buttress Architects | Cotton Square

Cotton Square, situated at the heart of Ancoats, is a mixed-use development, designed for Step Places.

Taking its name from Ancoats' textile mill heritage, the scheme offers 23 apartments and townhouses and combines original, industrial features with new design to create contemporary city-centre homes. The scheme has been designed to follow the masterplanning principles of the area and responds to the historic building rhythm and footprint of terraced houses previously built on the site.

A Victorian inspired ‘secret street’ provides access to the townhouses, set in their own private mews. Landscaped urban gardens outside each home provides outdoor amenity space while rooftop terraces offer residents views across Manchester's skyline.

On ground floor level, commercial workspaces have been created, providing an animated street frontage.
This mixed use scheme also includes the revival of former derelict Edinburgh Castle pub, which dates back 200 years. The pub has been sympathetically restored to provide a new leisure destination for residents and the wider community, adding to Ancoats' growing reputation as a hub for some of the city's best restaurants and bars.
Heritage Consultancy

The Edinburgh Castle pub can be traced back as early as 1811, and it first appears on historical maps as early as 1850. It continued to trade as a public house until the early 2000s, though it has since been vacant. As part of the proposals to incorporate the pub into the scheme, Heritage Consultancy services were provided to establish the site’s significance and assess the impact of the proposals on the heritage.

This included research into the site’s history and development, an assessment of the impact relating to demolition, existing buildings and the new construction works were also assessed and a justification statement was produced.

Heritage Consultancy