Drivers Jonas and architects Bennetts Associates have revealed their vision for a campus for 5,000 civil servants dubbed the ‘Whitehall of the North’.

Next month, public consultation will begin on the plan to redevelop land next to Piccadilly Station in Manchester for a new civil service campus. The plan for a new campus on the site – owned by British Rail Board (Residuary) Limited – was announced in May.

BRB (Residuary) Limited is a company owned by the Department for Transport to dispose of former British Rail land. The masterplan was prepared in consultation with the Office for Government Commerce, Government Office for the North West, Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, and other stakeholders.

A campus on the site aims to bring together staff from across Greater Manchester with others relocating from London and the southeast under the government’s Operational Efficiency Programme. On Monday, the government announced in its white paper “Putting the frontline first: smarter government” that it wanted to relocate 13,000 more civil servants and 9,000 quango staff.

Liz Meek, regional director for the Government Office for the North West, said there were clear benefits for a civil service campus: “We are able to create greater efficiencies by redevelopment government land at the same time as regenerating an important part of the city centre,” she said.

The site, which includes the former Manchester Mayfield Station, is bordered by the Manchester inner ring road to the south, Fairfield Street to the north, and London Road to the west. The development would also include a public park alongside the River Medlock.

John Adams, partner at Drivers Jonas, said development on this site would transform this area of Manchester: “It will create a new gateway to the city with a world-class public realm and pioneering sustainable buildings delivering government carbon reduction commitments and Manchester’s action plan to become a leading low carbon city by 2020.”

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