The Sustainable Growth of Manchester

When Polypipe Building Products invited sector leaders to a roundtable debate during the recent Housing 2025 conference held in Manchester, the brief was simple: How can Manchester keep growing without sacrificing sustainability, affordability or safety?

Chaired by Matt Baird, founder of The Social Housing Round Table, the conversation brought together developers, architects, contractors and housing specialists for a frank, two‑hour exchange.

In this article – the first of our four-part series – we recap the key themes, provocations and practical ideas that emerged from the discussion. Starting at the beginning of the discussion where we focused on the sustainable growth of Manchester city centre…

High rise? Mid‑rise? Or just the right rise?

To achieve sustainable growth, the group consensus was that Manchester needs a mixed urban grammar of repurposed warehouses, mid‑rise (5–7  storey) infill and strategic high-rise towers where density truly warrants it. Why?

• Deliverability: Sub‑18 m schemes skirt many of the Building Safety Act’s (BSA) most onerous gateways, accelerating starts onsite.
• Affordability: A range of heights supports a range of tenure types and incomes.
• Place-making: Developments designed with place-making at the core, knit new fabric into existing neighbourhoods and protect heritage character.

“The Building Safety Act presents challenges for all of us in the industry, but the answer isn’t simply to default to low-rise buildings because they’re easier to deliver. If we’re serious about sustainable growth, we have to prioritise placemaking — creating homes and communities where people genuinely want to live and thrive – we can’t always take the easy route.”

– Dr Catalina Ionita, Senior Architect – Chapman Taylor

Navigating the Building Safety Act (BSA)

“We’re 42 weeks into Gateway 2 with no approval date in sight.”

– Ben Townend, Design & Technical Lead – Great Places Housing Group.

While everyone backs safer buildings, the BSA’s processes are stretching programmes and budgets. Several participants predicted that dual‑staircase and 11m height thresholds will soon become UK‑wide standards, with cost implications still unquantified. This also presents another issue – bringing developments down to sub 18m reduces the number of homes being built, which does not help solve the massive housing crisis facing the country.

“The country is fundamentally broken through the weight of regulatory burden. Instead of regulating by outcome we set out with a vague idea of intent and end up making things worse. Due to the building safety regime, we’re seeing thousands fewer homes built due to reductions in height. To compensate for that we’re going to have to build many more homes in other places that are less sustainable and likely have less need for them.”

– Jamie Ratcliff, Deputy Chair – The Housing Forum

The group agreed that open dialogue with the Building Safety Regulator, and contingency budgeting for approvals lag, are now critical to feasibility.

Retrofit first – is it feasible in today’s regulatory climate?

The group also concurred that there is a time and place for high-rise buildings, but re‑using and retrofitting Manchester’s red‑brick warehouses is a great opportunity to lock in embodied carbon and preserve neighbourhood texture.

“Copenhagen is a good example of a high-density town that has a mix of new and old. It’s understanding that you can have innovation and sustainability, at the same time as considering conservation of the existing fabric.”

– Nicola Phiri, Project Architect, DB3 Group.

As a number of attendees pointed out, the problems with retrofitting arises when trying to meet building regulations and sustainability targets as well as ensure viability and affordability.

“It’s cheaper to knock these buildings down and rebuild than it is to retrofit to the new Building Regs.”

– Hayley Hayes, Head of Specification – Polypipe Building Products.

Materials & methods

Timber and cross‑laminated timber (CLT) offer negative embodied carbon, yet combustible‑material rules restrict their use above 11m. Panelised modern methods of construction (MMC) are maturing quickly, but integration on site remains the pain‑point: volumes that look perfect in the factory face real‑world issues once onsite. Early contractor involvement and manufacture‑led design were flagged as the surest routes to repeatable, quality‑assured MMC delivery.

“The earlier we can get involved, when a project’s at the very start of the design stage, the more successful it will be.”

– Lee Welshman, Project Development Manager – Polypipe Building Services.

“Modular integration is something that really needs to be looked at if we intend to build with more efficient offsite building systems.”

– Ben Townend, Design & Technical Lead – Great Places Housing Group.

AI: Friend, foe or just another tool?

From WSP’s parametric orientation engine to CAST’s PRISM capacity studies, the group shared examples of where artificial intelligence is already:

• Stress‑testing site massing and solar gain in minutes
• Proposing optimal structural grids for MMC panels
• Mapping deconstruction plans to maximise material re‑use
• Aiding the design process to test ideas and prove place

“In the last two years alone, the software that we have to test buildings from a sustainability perspective with AI has improved the way we work so much, and the way we design.”

– Dr. Catalina Ionita, Senior Architect – Chapman Taylor.

The group’s verdict? Embrace AI early, but keep architects in the driving seat. Used responsibly, it fast‑forwards the ‘what‑if’ iterations that unlock both design quality and compliance certainty.

Low carbon lifestyle

“When we’re thinking about whether we should repurpose old warehouses or build new, it shouldn’t be about what it is, it should be about how the residents are going to use them and how they can then have that low-carbon lifestyle once they’re in it.”

– Gareth Field (He/Him), RISE Learning and Development Operational Lead and Sustainable Communities Team Senior Consultant – Turner & Townsend.

As Gareth points out, the carbon story continues after handover. Location, transport links, layouts and shared facilities all influence the resident’s day-to-day footprint. A sustainable Manchester must therefore align urban planning with building physics – tram stops, active travel routes, and digital connectivity matter as much as kilowatt‑hours.

Manchester’s path to sustainable growth is anything but straightforward. Balancing safety, affordability, and environmental impact requires more than just clever design – it demands collaboration, early-stage planning and a willingness to challenge both regulations and assumptions.

From retrofitting historic warehouses to embracing MMC and AI, the tools are already at our disposal – but how we apply them will shape the city’s future. What’s clear is that sustainable development in Manchester isn’t just about buildings – it’s about creating places people want to live, now and for generations to come.

To explore our previous round table series you can visit our Future Homes Hub Blog.

You can also follow the latest updates from Polypipe Building Products on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram , and YouTube.