New Islington 2001 –
It’s an ambitious project: turning a derelict, depopulated council estate into the best place to live in Manchester. That’s the plan for New Islington, a small area of Ancoats just beyond the city centre.
With a masterplan by Alsop Architects, Urban Splash is the lead developer in creating a new destination in the city. Challenging new architecture, new waterways, and a mixture of house types and tenure are all on the cards.
I started my process of documentation by interviewing and photographing some of the local residents for Cardroom Voices (2004). There have been significant changes over recent years and these have been chronicled in the latest book, From the Ground Up: New Islington 2001-2007.
The financial crisis has affected development plans everywhere, and New Islington has not been immune. Since 2008, progress has been slow as developers re-assess their plans and public agencies re-examine their budgets.
See also the New Islington website
Cardroom Voices
Cardroom Voices is the first in a series of books to document the development of New Islington, Manchester's Millennium Community.
Local residents, from 12 to 90-year-olds, relate their personal experiences of the old Cardroom Estate and talk candidly about their aspirations for the future.
‘We wanted to make sure that some of the strength of the community we originally encountered was captured and celebrated and so commissioned Len Grant, Manchester's documentor of change, to capture some of the characters on film and on tape. The result is this book’.
Nick Johnson, Urban Splash
Published by The New Islington Client Group
ISBN: 0 9547281 0 6
£9.95 | 48 pages | softback
Available from Urban Splash 0161 839 2999
From the Ground Up
From the Ground Up: New Islington 2001-2007, follows the whole process from poring over Will Alsop’s masterplan in the local pub to the first residents moving into their award-winning new homes.
“It’s my dream home,” says one new resident… “it’s bleeding Legoland!” declares a passer-by.
Interviews and comments from architects, local residents, engineers and contractors add to the chronology of imagery that make this book an important record of twenty-first century sustainable regeneration.
Published by Len Grant Photography on behalf of The New Islington Client Group
ISBN: 978-0-9526720-5-0 | £13 | 120 pages | softback
Available from Cornerhouse
"We didn't want to go." from Len Grant on Vimeo.