The Metropolitan

One of Manchester’s largest office buildings, formerly the Northern headquarters of NatWest, required a major transformation to give it a new purpose within one of the city’s busiest commercial and residential districts. The challenge was to make better use of the building’s substantial 39,000 sq ft floorplates, introduce more natural light and create a healthier, more engaging workplace, while working within the constraints of the existing structure and a restricted city-centre site. Sustainability and occupant wellbeing were central to the brief.

G&T is providing Cost Management and Project Management services to support the transformation of the existing building rather than replacing it. The design applies biophilic principles through natural materials, planting and extensive greenery, while sections of the existing atrium are being opened up to draw daylight deeper into the floorplates. New garden and amenity spaces will create a central ‘Village Square’, complemented by informal collaboration areas at ground and first-floor levels and a roof terrace offering tenants valuable outdoor space.

Repurposing the existing structure will deliver significant embodied carbon benefits compared with constructing a new building, while creating a more sustainable and wellbeing-focused workplace for future occupiers. The transformed atrium, greenery, shared amenity spaces and roof terrace are intended to encourage interaction, collaboration and healthier ways of working. Through its combined service solution, G&T is helping to guide delivery and inform decisions around the complex refurbishment, ensuring the project’s ambitions are considered alongside cost, programme and the practical constraints of the existing building.