Victoria Warehouse is made up of three early 20th century warehouses with a detached, six storey building to the east that is currently home to a hotel.
The first two levels of the western warehouse form a well-known music and exhibition space – the O2 Victoria Warehouse. The urban, industrial space has hosted big names such as Basement Jaxx, Armand Van Helden and Fatboy Slim.
Proposition
The site’s owners wanted to ask Trafford Council for planning permission to reconfigure the buildings on the site to provide an additional 200 rooms in the hotel, build a seven storey car park with 183 spaces, and build a roof extension on top of the hotel for a roof terrace and function room.
They also wanted to put a new roof on the western warehouse, convert the second and third floors above the music venue into office space, and install two new lifts and a staircase. In addition, plans included a running track and clubhouse on the roof of the building next to the events centre.
Investigation
Miller Goodall was appointed to undertake an air quality assessment to investigate whether or not the development would have a significant effect on air quality through pollution from road vehicles associated with it and to assess the pollution levels that future users of the development would be exposed to, to ensure that pollution levels would not be above relevant air quality objectives.
Air Quality
Air quality around the development was modelled using the detailed dispersion model ADMS-Roads. Levels of pollutant resulting from additional road traffic, predicted by the transport consultant for the project, were then modelled and compared to air quality objectives. Annual and short-term concentrations of NO2 and PM10 are predicted to be below the respective air quality objectives for both ‘without development’ and ‘with development’ scenarios in 2021 (the opening year of the development) at all modelled receptor locations.
An assessment following Environmental Protection UK and Institute of Air Quality Management guidance on air quality significance criteria has completed and this identified that the local air quality impact of emissions from traffic associated with the proposed development were predicted to be negligible.
Action and outcome
Council officers had recommended that councillors approve the planning application and the committee supported that recommendation and approved the application unanimously.
