Manchester’s new Mayfield Park is now formally open.

Watched by schoolchildren from across Manchester, the Leader of Manchester City Council cut the ribbon at lunchtime on Thursday 22 September 2022 to open the new park.

The new 6.5 acre park is the first the city has seen for 100 years. Gillespies played a leading role in creating new wildlife habitats in the heart of Manchester, as well as a series of high-quality green spaces where people can play, socialise and relax. The park includes a new children’s playground, relaxation spaces, wetlands and floodable meadows, focused on the river Medlock, which had been hidden under a concrete culvert for over 50 years. It will be open every day from dawn to dusk.

Working closely with design guardian Studio Egret West, Gillespies supported main contractor PP O’Connor Group and their landscape contractor Ashlea, to deliver Mayfield Park. This major project required collaborative working with a wider delivery design team including Buro Happold, Civic Engineers, Project 4, Studio Fractal and Layer Studio.

Mayfield Park is the centrepiece of a new 24-acre mixed-use development which will transform a previously derelict part of the city. Worth £1.4bn, it will ultimately include 1,500 homes, 1.6 million ft2 of commercial space and 300,000ft2 of retail and leisure space. The development was led by Mayfield Development Partnership, which consists of regeneration specialist U+I and the Mayfield Partnership: Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester plus developer LCR Property.

Thanks to our team, Jim Gibson, Jon Freeman, Roger Williams, Joseph D’Ambrogio, and Graeme Pert.

Image: Bev Craig, Leader of the Council, cuts the ribbon to open Mayfield Park (c) Mark Waugh