Piccadilly Gardens Manchester

The Council's aim was to transform the location, promote a safe, secure environment, and to provide a positive intervention that drew people to the area.

This was achieved by providing temporary infrastructure that could support events activities across the year while the overall redevelopment of Piccadilly Gardens is considered.

Manchester City Council provided the initial management and investment to support the installation of two temporary platform areas in Piccadilly Gardens, creating a new, temporary public event space in the city centre.

The ‘boardwalk’ platform areas were initially installed to create The Winter Gardens for the 2021 Christmas Markets period (Phase 1) and have subsequently been used for the Irish Weekender, the Save Ukraine telecast screen event, the Queens Platinum Jubilee Weekend and Manchester Day – it also formed the core site of the UEFA Women’s Euros Fan Zone in July 2022 that launched Phase 2 of the project.

Manchester City Council secured an operator – T3 Events - to partner with the City Council to support the Phase 2 design and build process that delivered the site for the UEFA Women’s Euros. Following the Women’s Euros, Boardwalk 1 has been renamed Dock 53 and reset as an events and food & beverage driven offering that will be fully operational through to January 2024. Boardwalk 2 is utilised as a public space operated by MCC as an experiential event area with a changing programme of activities.

The reimagination of the site as a new event-hub for the city centre strengthens the public space offering and positively positions Manchester as an agent of change in reducing the environmental impact of events.

Following on from previous successful event sector collaborations, T3 Events appointed Core Associates to provide design and technical co-ordination inputs for the planning and building regulations submissions.