Developer wants to build 3,500 homes

Granada TV

Concept designs to replace the old Granada television studios in Manchester went on public display in the city over the weekend.

Developer Allied London wants the scheme, called St Johns Quarter, to be residential led and said that 3,500 units could be built at the site over the next 15 years.

Proposals by EPR, Conran & Partners, BDP, Gensler, Child Grabbon Lewis, Sheppard Robson, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, John McAslan & Partners, Ian Simpson Architects, Bennetts Associates and Broadway Malyan were all on display.

The studios, which featured the first television performance by The Beatles back in 1962, closed last June after being opened in 1956. ITV Granada and ITV Studios have now moved to Media City in Salford.

Allied London has a five year option to buy the site, which until 2010 had a landmark red neon Granada TV sign on its roof, from ITV subject to planning permissions being achieved.

This story first appeared on Building Design.