Piccadilly Gardens revamp: what do people in Manchester think?

A huge £25m renovation for Piccadilly Gardens is one step closer as six teams have been selected for the next stage of an international design competition to revamp the area around Piccadilly gardens. The teams will now have until autumn to bring forward their design proposals.

The initial stage of the competition, which attracted 10 entrants, invited expressions of interest to enable entrants’ credentials and experience to be assessed.

The six shortlisted teams will now be asked to develop detailed concept designs setting out their ideas. The teams will now have until autumn to bring forward their design proposals and the successful design team will be appointed in 2023 to further develop the design with the Council ahead of the appointment of a contractor to carry out the work.

The 10-acre site covered by the competition also includes Mosley Street, Parker Street, the section of Portland Street which runs alongside Piccadilly Gardens and the section of Piccadilly which borders the Gardens.

The design will need to retain the existing listed monuments and statues, and tramlines and infrastructure as well as the existing Pavilion structure.

We spoke to city centre spokesman Coun Pat Karney and people in Manchester for our video report on the project.