Ahead of UKREiiF, we caught up with Danny Hope, Regional Director – North West at Stantec to learn more about him thoughts on Manchester’s growth journey and how their work integrates into the city’s future.
Manchester has seen significant urban regeneration in recent years, how is Stantec contributing to shaping the city’s future landscape?
Anyone who lives here will agree that Manchester, and the wider region, has been undergoing transformative regeneration and development for some time – and we’re proud to have played an integral role in this, supporting communities through our collaboration with local clients and stakeholders.
In Manchester, our influence spans the entire built environment. Stantec is a global design, placemaking, and engineering firm, but made up of local people who enjoy having an impact on the places they live, work, and travel to. We work with local authorities, developers, transport bodies, housebuilders, energy operators, landowners, building owners, and water companies to plan, design and engineer sustainable solutions for Greater Manchester’s greatest challenges. We make sure that we bring best practice from around the world, and pair it with our local knowledge and expertise, redefining what’s possible for Mancunians and the wider north west community.
From new road networks, active travel projects, and transformative housing schemes, to renewable energy projects, water resilience strategies, and new infrastructure, when you look out of the window from our office at Barbirolli square, it’s easy to find something that we’ve helped create.
The number of team members we have in this region has more than quadrupled over the last six years, and when Hydrock joined Stantec last year, it marked a new chapter in our Manchester story.
Do you think that transport and infrastructure are key to urban growth?
Absolutely – national growth is driven by local growth – and local growth is bolstered by improved connectivity. As Greater Manchester continues to evolve into a world-leading city region, we need to make sure that communities that are growing are supported by resilient, sustainable and future-proofed infrastructure. Stockport is a good example of best practice in the region, with transit-oriented development at the heart of its evolution.
We need to help clients look at the needs of tomorrow, rather than preferences for today. We’re proud to be designing new communities in Manchester, and across the country that will be prioritising safer, low-carbon, and more efficient modes of transportation.
Are there specific infrastructure investments that you believe will unlock new regeneration opportunities across the region?
Transport for Greater Manchester’s long-term Transport Strategy 2040, and its vision for improved transport in the region shows a lot of promise for enhancing connectivity and bringing new opportunities for communities. A better-connected, greener city-region, will attract investment and improve the quality of life for millions of people.
This will lead to more places like Pendleton, a mixed use development in which our teams worked together to bring active travel best practice to this project, with tree-lined streets designed to give priority to cyclists via its layout and materials choice while also connecting the community to existing cycling infrastructure across Manchester.
At the same time, the water side of our business is deeply involved in supporting the aims of United Utilities, a company which are supporting regeneration with foundational improvements. We’ve worked closely with the water company for a number of years, providing essential design resources and innovative, sustainable solutions. We’re delivering outline and detailed design for the 11 Better River projects, helping reduce spills from overflows, create improvements in river quality, and bring storage solutions that will support United Utilities’ commitments.
If we’re going to create a truly world-class city region, then it's vital that Manchester’s utilities infrastructure can improve at the same rate as its urban development.
What are the emerging trends (economic, demographic, or technological) that you believe will most impact Manchester’s built environment?
There are a number of societal, technological, and environmental trends influencing the future of greater Manchester. Where will working from home take the commercial office environment for example? And how can developers create a city that is suited for hybrid working patterns and more nomadic lifestyles?
Its also clear that younger people are generally trending away from private motor vehicles and towards healthier methods of transport like walking, wheeling, and cycling. So, how can we create a place in which these preferences can continue to thrive?
AI is also revolutionising the way we conduct business. Not just in meetings, but also in how we can model, analyse, and predict changes and patterns. Whether that’s in water infrastructure, societal trends, or urban design. This boom in AI is already increasing efficiency and deliverability on some of our projects in multiple sectors. But this is surely only the start, especially as AI growth zones potentially make their impact in the UK in the period ahead.
What are you most looking forward to engaging with this year at UKREIIF?
Many of our colleagues are attending UKREIIF this year, not just from the Manchester office, but from across the UK. We’ll be hosting a series of workshops and panel discussions aimed at facilitating constructive dialogue between the public and private sectors in light of some urgent challenges the country needs to address.
One interesting session is around how we can design sustainable, resilient new communities in the face of climate change. What are the implications for people, affordability, skills and land use? How do we manage competing demands for funding while embedding social value and creating new jobs? These will be the questions Stantec’s Lucy Wood and Susan Emmett will be asking the group.
My colleagues Iain Painting and Leigh Stolworthy will be hosting a discussion looking at crafting a realistic roadmap for urban regeneration. Ahead of the spending review, and with ever-increasing Local Authority capital funding and resource challenges, plus a landscape of funding stream uncertainty, they’ll be exploring what can we do to drive inclusive, large-scale regeneration.
Data centres are also having a moment. But what are the implications for power procurement? Planning permission? Communities? The environment? Our Stephen Meleady will examine the business case, the implications and critical enablers of this hot new trend.
I’m also looking forward to networking within the Manchester Invest Partnership, making new connections, and rekindling old ones to see how we can maximise opportunities to drive progress across the region.
I’m a born and bred Boltonian and nothing makes me prouder than seeing our teams deliver high quality placemaking across the city region which provide long term benefits to the local community.
To find out more about Stantec and the rest of the Invest Manchester Partnership, click here.