Vita Student, Plot 9B First Street Manchester

Vita Student currently operates 23 buildings across the UK with two sites already in Manchester, located at Circle Square on Oxford Road and First Street. They have a proven track record of creating secure, trusted and vibrant living spaces which instil in their residents a sense of community and belonging. Their brand is student living re-invented by delivering inspirational spaces, first class services, amazing experiences and life shaping opportunities.

The proposed scheme for Plot 9B provides purpose-built student residential accommodation throughout the upper floors with an offering of communal amenities at ground floor and first floor. The building consists of a 33-storey tower with two 12-storey shoulder blocks. The massing responds to the prominent location of Plot 9B, to provide a gateway building form when entering the city centre along Medlock Street from the south.

The two stability cores are positioned either side of the centre of the building, enclosing the lift shafts, stair cores and service risers. The internal upper floors consist entirely of residential accommodation arranged in studios. The residential accommodation is accessed via corridors located centrally along the axis of the building. The back of house and service areas at ground floor level are predominantly located to the north elevations, which offer access for maintenance and servicing. Roof plant has been located towards the northeast of the building and will be cloaked by the building’s crown.

In-situ reinforced concrete construction is proposed for the development, comprising of 225mm thick flat slabs to typical upper floor levels supported by concrete blade columns positioned within the party walls between apartments and by the concrete walls to the building cores.

The columns are 350mm and 250mm wide in the tower and shoulder blocks respectively and the core walls are 400mm thick over their full height to suit slip- or jump-form construction. The floor plates are designed as horizontal diaphragms to distribute the laterally applied loads back to the cores. The core and shear wall structures are designed as free-standing vertical cantilevers from foundation level. The substructure is designed to be fully supported on piled foundations utilising a combination of 450 mm and 750 mm diameter piles, with pile arrangement based upon preliminary pile load capacities as advised by the piling contractor.

Wind tunnel testing was undertaken at Stage 3 to determine wind loads for structural design and to assess occupier comfort at the upper floors. The use of wind tunnel testing allowed a more efficient structural design to be developed than would have been possible using wind loads determined in accordance with the design codes.