First design tenders go out for city council's five-year central Manchester scheme

Manchester City Council has put out the first calls for architects to design the £165m redevelopment of its town hall complex.

Tender documents went out this morning for architects to design the £73m refurbishment of the town hall's extension and the £46m redevelopment of the circular central library, both designed by E Vincent Harris in the 1930s.

The city council is also set to launch a competition for the £20m redevelopment of St Peter's Square, a project for which the council is seeking architects of “world standing”.

Manchester town hall
Credit: Bernt Rostad
Part of Manchester's town hall complex was designed by E Vincent Harris in the 1930s

An architect is also sought to design a £3.8m covered walkway within the town hall complex. The council's budget for the programme is £165m, and it is expected to be complete in 2014.

John Frubin of the council's town hall redevelopment programme team said a “large volume” of entries was expected for the design jobs. It is possible that several different architects will work on the various packages.