Mayfield Park has been named a ‘Great Place’ Urbanism Awards finalist for 2024. 

Hosted by the Academy of Urbanism, the awards champion the best, most enduring and most improved urban environments.  

Mayfield Park is Manchester City Centre’s first public park in over one hundred years, and we were civil and structural engineers on the project. With more than 6.5-acre of new green space and a multi-sensory playground, the park is aimed at the whole community, with the landscape designed to maximise biodiversity.  

The project is centred on the preservation, retention and re-use of historic structures to sustain the site’s heritage and reduce carbon. A fundamental part of this involved the de-culverting of the River Medlock, which had been concealed under a concrete culvert on the site for more than 50 years.  

Our CEO Stephen O’Malley commented, “Mayfield Park is a brilliant example of the positive impact that the reuse of heritage structures and nature-based solutions has on people’s lives and the environment. In the face of Manchester’s rapid evolution and the densification of city centre living, there is a need to create green, interconnected and inclusive spaces.  

“From an aesthetic viewpoint there is an authenticity that comes from extracting certain components and strategically repositioning them within the landscape. For instance, repurposing the iron beams discovered in the River Medlock, integrates both natural and urban elements, enriching the space. We are privileged to contribute to the combined effort of shaping this remarkable space.” 

The park opened to the public in 2022 and is the first phase of a long-term initiative to create a thriving, mixed use urban neighbourhood in the heart of Manchester City Centre. You can find out more about the project here. 

Finalists for the Urbanism Awards are selected by a panel of academicians and ‘young urbanists,’ and the awards recognise environmental sustainability; community, health and wellbeing; connectivity; leadership and governance, and amenity. You can find the full awards shortlist here.  

We wish the other nominated finalists’ good luck and look forward to joining them at the awards ceremony on Wednesday 13th November, and supporting the Academy of Urbanism’s upcoming conference in October.