House of Social, First Street Manchester

House of Social is VITA Group’s pioneering new student accommodation concept targeted at students who want to live in stylish, shared apartments with like-minded people. Each House of Social building includes a vibrant food hall which offers a unique environment to meet new people and build a friendship network.

House of Social, First Street, Manchester is a 14-storey purpose-built student residential building, providing accommodation for 576 students. The residential accommodation is arranged in clusters of 5 or 6 bedrooms per cluster accessed via a corridor located
centrally along the axis of the building. The entrance for each cluster is directly into a generously sized communal area encouraging social interaction.

The ground floor and first floor provide a large food hall and retail unit which can be accessed by the residents and the public. Back of house and service areas are located to the south and west elevations at ground floor level, which offer access for refuse collection and maintenance.

The structure comprises an in-situ reinforced concrete frame with 225mm thick flat slab floors supported by blade columns positioned to suit the internal wall layout.  Stability is provided by two in-situ reinforced concrete cores containing the stairs, lift shafts and service risers and which are positioned strategically within the layout.  The building is clad with traditional masonry construction to reflect the character of the historic mill buildings to the east.

RoC Consulting was appointed by the Vita Group to provide the civil, structural, geo-environmental and highway engineering design for the scheme.