Red Bank forms the first phase of Victoria North that will see the regeneration of Manchester’s neighbourhoods running north of the city centre along the River Irk.

Red Bank forms the first phase of Victoria North that will see the regeneration of Manchester’s neighbourhoods running north of the city centre along the River Irk. The fast-flowing river is nested at the bottom of a valley, with its dramatic topography providing a respite from the general flatness of the central Manchester. The surrounding area was formerly at the centre of Manchester’s industrial might. Red Bank itself had held gasworks, a railway depot, mills, small factories and workers’ housing. Infamously, it was this neighbourhood that Engels used to describe the appalling quality of urban living in the “Conditions of the Working Class in England”.

The industrious character of Red Bank is long gone. The majority of the site has been left abandoned for decades and it has an eerie character in spite of its proximity to the centre. Parts of the site turned over the decades into a dense wood that forms for the core of the proposed City River Park. Elsewhere, remnants of the industrial heritage remain, most prominently with the historic Barney Steps, a footbridge over the formed railway sidings.

In recent years the area has started developing a somewhat bohemian character with art and event spaces, and a couple of food establishments. They co-exist with high-density mix-use developments that have been emerging immediately around Red Bank, including at Meadowside and Victoria Riverside.

Wild Urbanism
The project has been developed around the concept of “Wild Urbanism” that merges nature and city life by bringing the Irk Valley into the city and flowing the city back to the valley. This “wild urbanism” will offer the naturalised River Irk, the extended existing St Catherine’s Wood and a myriad of other interconnected green spaces to Mancunians. Cafes, restaurants, shops, community spaces and homes will be set among the nature to bring a dose of urbanity to the wilderness.

Blazej Czuba, Associate Urban Designer said:

"The project’s social impact strategy is focus on three pillars:

Local: 15 minute neighbourhood – encouraging a local life that supports local businesses and resources.

Healthy: resilient communities – fostering an active lifestyle that promotes neighbourliness and community living.

Skilled: building social value – developing stewardship of place from day one.

The project has been developed around the concept of “Wild Urbanism” that merges nature and city life by bringing the Irk Valley into the city and flowing the city back to the valley. This “wild urbanism” will offer the naturalised River Irk, the extended existing St Catherine’s Wood and a myriad of other interconnected green spaces to Mancunians. Cafes, restaurants, shops, community spaces and homes will be set among the nature to bring a dose of urbanity to the wilderness."