The quirky abito has been named best residential building in the North West in the 2008 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) North West Awards.
It’s a bit of a triumph for the mould breaking one-room living spaces that spent years in development before being built, first at Greengate in Salford and right now a second block down at Salford Quays.
And it proved that it is possible to provide contemporary and affordable accommodation for the first time buyers who would otherwise be priced out the of the city centre market.
Andrew Kellaway, Chair of the North West Awards judging panel, said: “abito stands out from the crowd, maybe not in terms of its overall aesthetics, but certainly in terms of the nature of the development and the overall concept of providing affordable city centre apartments, which are both contemporary and to use the developers terms ‘quirky’.”
“The overall scheme represents a move away from the normal style of residential development within the city centre and offers something that has not been seen before within the city which will, we are sure, be mirrored in other developments throughout the country.”
When they launched the lower floors came in at under £90,000 and you can still buy at Greengate for under £100,000. Manchester has never taken to this one-room idea mistakenly classifying them as crash pads when in reality they are so much more so the second site is also in Salford and sure to be of interest to new media types heading north.
Here the larger abito duos, which give you more living space, have proved most popular with only two left for sale, not surprising really as you get two bedrooms and an amazing 600 sq ft south facing terrace which features a specially designed canopy to protect you from the elements.
Designed by the Building Design Partnership further abito schemes are currently in the pipeline with Ask Life’s senior land and development executive Katie Dean seeking out new sites and are said to be currently considering Bolton, Sheffield and Leeds for future abito developments.
For more information on Ask Life’s abito apartments, please call 0870 242 4499 or visit the website: abito.co.uk.