Architect Cartwright Pickard has designed the Cotton Building as a new breed of flexible office schemes targeting technology, media and telecommunications clients.

Construction work is now due to start on the spec building in late spring. Grontmij is the M&E consultant and Capita Symonds, the structural consultant.

The 240,000sq ft building design allows tenants to completely customise their space, from lighting and heating elements to partition walls and furniture.

The lower floors of The Cotton Building will provide communal workspace, a gym , café and restaurants, a bicycle park with its own entrance and a climbing wall.

Michael Ingall, CEO of Allied London said: “This structure represents the evolution of Spinningfields and workspace in Manchester.

“We are going to create a unique product in the market that effectively combines work and play. This is not something that has been done in the city and we envision this to be the catalyst for future similar developments.”

Peter Cartwright, Director of Cartwright Pickard said: “The innovative and nimble nature of the building design makes the workspaces suitable for a wide variety and size of businesses, from single person start ups to large corporates.”