Plans for a new block with nearly 400 student homes in Salford with its own gym and lounge have been submitted for approval.
The scheme would demolish the existing Cumberland House building on Lissadel Street to build a part-ten storey student residence on the land. A total of 396 purpose-built studios are included in the plans, with shared communal facilities for residents, located within walking distance from Salford University’s main city centre campus.
Landscaping plans aim to create ‘immersive and quiet spaces’ in the development alongside ‘social and active’ zones. Heritage stones with a nod to the area’s past are also planned, with railway track siding paths leading through the internal courtyard area.
The building will have a main entrance and lobby area, as well as an internal courtyard, staff room, and laundry area. It includes hardly any facilities for cars, with a maximum of two drop-off parking areas and two accessible bays.
But there are nearly 200 cycle parking spaces in the design, and residents will be close to Salford Crescent railway station and buses on Broad Street to Manchester city centre.
Cumberland House is currently being used as a taxi rank and MOT garage, and was built after the demolition of historic cotton mills at the site. The proposed scheme fits with Salford’s growing student population, with massive plans to expand the city’s university campus with a student village around Peel Park.
Major changes are also on the way around the Salford Crescent area, with a £2.5bn regeneration scheme already taking place to build new homes, research facilities, and transport infrastructure.
Elsewhere in the city, there are plans to demolish Salford high rise blocks from the 1960s – Eddie Colman Court and John Lester Court – to make way for new student accommodation with 1,500 rooms. The planning application for Cumberland House is set to be decided by Salford council in April.