Contemporary family escape reflecting its natural surroundings

Two New Bailey is an inventive workplace building for English Cities Fund and MUSE.

The building provides flexible working environments full of character; referencing the spirit of Salford’s industry and the site’s setting on the River Irwell, the architecture creates a 21st century warehouse for work.

The steel structure is exposed and brought to the outside to provide solar shading for an elegantly fabricated façade, while servicing systems and surface finishes are expressed to provide personality to the interior.

One of the key aspects of this project is the external structural steel frame, called an exoskeleton.

The façade was pre-manufactured at Staticus’ headquarters, and then safely transported over 2,500 km.

The Staticus team developed a smarter solution for implementing the designer’s ideas for the lower floors, proposing the use of beech LVL beams.

These beams both increased the amount of internal space and reduced the amount of wood required, simultaneously ensuring outstanding surface quality and higher strength.

To overcome complex issues around steel penetrations and movement, Reynaers developed a bespoke solution using its ConceptWall 86 (CW 86-EF) unitised curtain wall system.

The building which was completed in 2020, achieves Grade A BREEAM rated specification.

This 187,251 square feet state-of-the-art office development is a thriving business and leisure destination, occupying a highly prominent gateway position, and forms part of the larger New Bailey development scheme.

This awe-inspiring project won the British Council for Offices Northern region Commercial Workspace award in 2022, with judges describing the project as ‘the very best in architectural achievement’ and ‘a build of distinction’. In addition, this stunning office development has been shortlisted for the British Council for Offices National Awards