Techrete was engaged from early in the architect's design phase to design, manufacture and install 398 precast concrete panels, covering 6048m2 of the hotel's facade. Panels include mullions, spandrels, ribbed panels, crucifix punched panels, dummy window panels, chequered wall panels and soffits. James Hind, partner at SimpsonHaugh Architects, says, "The building design responds both to operator requirements and site constraints, creating an efficient layout around a central core, while providing a form that responds to the scale, mass and depth of the Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings of Whitworth Street. To the south, the massing steps back incrementally from the street to create an increased level of separation from the adjacent Circle Square development. To the north, as a response to the viaduct, the elevation cantilevers at level seven to create a city centre-facing elevation. "The use of precast concrete for the facade was to reinforce the characteristics found in the materials and details of neighbouring buildings within the adjacent conservation area. In particular, the Whitworth Street conservation area comprises richly dressed frontages, providing an opportunity to explore surfaces, which respond to orientation, context and programme. The selection of concrete was also to provide a pigmented facade, which creates a relationship with the red terracotta used on neighbouring buildings. The precast solution created panels that express scale, depth and texture with continuity of surface.
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