No.1 Ancoats Green Manchester housing, This City residential building, English Build to Rent property development

No.1 Ancoats Green Manchester housing

22 March 2026

Buttress completes No.1 Ancoats Green – the first project delivered through Manchester’s ‘This City’ housing programme

Location: Greater Manchester, Northwest England, UK

Architect: Buttress Architects

Rodney Street housing:

External photos: Gavin Stewart ; Interior photos: Gunner Gu

No.1 Ancoats Green Manchester Homes, UK

The scheme wins the Build to Rent Development of the Year at the recent Insider Media Awards

Buttress Architects has completed No.1 Ancoats Green – the first development to be delivered through This City, Manchester City Council’s own housing company – winning the Build to Rent Development of the Year category at the recent Insider Media North West Residential Property Awards 2026.

The Buttress-designed scheme reached completion at the end of last year and is now home to a growing community of residents overlooking the newly created Ancoats Green*.

Rodney Street homes:

The project delivers 129 Build to Rent homes, comprised of 119 apartments and 10 townhouses – on a key site framing the newly redesigned Ancoats Green – forming part of the wider plan to transform Ancoats into a walkable, low-carbon neighbourhood.

Buttress’ masterplanning approach positions two new apartment buildings on either side of a green street, creating a direct visual and pedestrian link between Miles Platting and Ancoats Green. The homes – a mix of 28 one bedroom and 91 two bedroom apartments, plus eight three bedroom and two four bedroom townhouses – are arranged to reinforce street edges and maximise outlook over the revitalised public realm.

Rodney St housing:

Echoing the historic character of Ancoats, the buildings adopt a complementary red brick palette, expressing the site’s transitional location between the neighbourhood’s mill architecture and newer regeneration areas.

As part of the This City programme’s core commitment to affordability, 30 per cent of homes are delivered at Manchester Living Rent – a level of rent capped at the Local Housing Allowance level, meaning rental costs can be covered by housing benefit. This aligns with Buttress’ purpose of creating architecture for an equitable tomorrow, designing places that are inclusive, welcoming, and beneficial for everyone. The scheme is also fully tenure blind, ensuring all homes are indistinguishable in quality and appearance, regardless of tenure.

Interior designers, Jasper Sanders + Partners, were appointed by Buttress to design the resident amenity spaces in Alabaster House and develop a cohesive interior specification across both the apartments and townhouses, ensuring consistency of quality and approach.

Downley Drive housing interior design:

Sustainability has been a key driver for the project, supporting Manchester’s ambition to become zero carbon by 2038. The scheme incorporates well insulated, energy efficient homes, EV charging for the townhouses, and a significant landscape and tree planting strategy aligned with the wider Ancoats public realm framework, which prioritises active travel and walkability. No.1 Ancoats Green is Manchester’s largest scheme to date to meet AECB low-energy standards, prioritising thermal performance, airtightness and low-carbon living.

Downley Drive, No.1 Ancoats Green homes:

Ben Tabiner, Buttress director, said: “A key urban design aim was connectivity with the surrounding neighbourhood and establishing a strong relationship with both Miles Platting, Anocats, Ancoats Green and the wider green blue network including the Rochdale canal and New Islington Marina. Arranging the blocks around a new green street reinforces movement across the site and ties the project back into the wider Ancoats context. Our material approach draws directly from the immediate context, using complementary tones of red brickwork that reflect Ancoats’ architectural identity while acknowledging the site’s transitional position.”

Rodney St housing design:

Leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Bev Craig OBE, said: “No. 1 Ancoats Green is the product of a vision we have had since the inception of This City, to use our own land to build the homes we know our residents want and need, to a high specification, and on our own terms.

“For many years it has been incredibly challenging for Councils to build homes to meet demand, but through This City we are proving that it is possible – while also delivering genuinely affordable housing for our residents.

“This is only the beginning for This City and through our new joint venture partnership with the GM pension fund, we are scaling up delivery and we have around 1,600 new homes in the coming years with sites across the city.”

Rodney St homes:

The project completes alongside ongoing public realm upgrades that together establish the next phase of Ancoats as a low carbon, landscape led urban neighbourhood.
The Buttress-designed Ancoats Mobility Hub is also situated within the same public realm, setting the tone for a sustainable neighbourhood with a design centred around residents’ needs. By bringing parking together in one place, the Hub ensures developments, such as No. 1 Ancoats Green, are car-park free and creates a green place for people to relax and enjoy.

Downley Drive homes:

No.1 Ancoats Green Manchester housing, England – Building Information

Architecture: Buttress Architects – https://buttress.net/

Photography credits:

External photos: Gavin Stewart
Interior photos: Gunner Gu

More information on the Ancoats Mobility Hub

*Ancoats Green is designed by Planit.

Buttress

Established in 1988, Buttress is a 100% employee-owned architecture and design studio based in Manchester and Leeds. Its award-winning work spans heritage and conservation, residential, arts and culture, faith, commercial, workplace, hotels and leisure, community and education sectors.

Buttress also offers heritage consultancy services—a positive, forward-thinking approach that helps clients understand how the past can inform the future. A certified B Corporation, the practice is committed to architecture for an equitable tomorrow, creating spaces that are inclusive, sustainable, and socially impactful.

Interior Designer | Jasper Sanders + Partners
www.jaspersanders.com

No.1 Ancoats Green Manchester housing building, England images / information received 081225

Location: Manchester, northwest England, United Kingdom.