Led by Urban Splash, New Islington in Manchester – previously known as the Cardroom Estate – is now a vibrant, mixed community providing a range of homes and workplaces.
The masterplan for New Islington is based on architect Will Alsop’s vision that the two existing Victorian canals would be linked by a new waterway – the site where our Town and Mansion Houses now sit.
On the opposite bank lies Cotton Field, an idyllic water park, and services such as a health centre and primary school. More than a decade after work started on transforming New Islington, our MMC town houses came from the Urban Splash factory to be placed amongst a variety of new and retained buildings, landscape and infrastructure.
In 2016 the first of 43 Town Houses comprising phase 1 were delivered to site and arranged in short terraces of two- and three-storey homes to face onto the canal and to existing and new streets.
Phase 2 comprised more Town Houses at Piercy Street and Stubbs Mews, together with the first pilot project for Mansion House – our sister concept to Town House. The idea was based on smaller groups of apartments: six, eight or ten, sharing an entrance, stair and lift to create a stronger sense of ownership and counter the anonymity of apartment life, creating a more humane way of high density living.
New Islington phase 3 comprises further Town Houses – the latest mark 3 model – and Mansion Houses, organised around shared residents’ gardens and a new public square fronting on to the canal. The last Mansion Houses and the pubic square will start on site in May 2025.
