Steel creating new retail destination in Rochdale

More than 1,800t of structural steelwork will eventually be erected for the Rochdale Riverside scheme, which forms one of the final parts of a £250M investment package, which has been transforming the town centre since 2011.

The Riverside scheme includes 18,500m² of retail and leisure accommodation, with approximately 24 new shops, restaurants and a six-screen cinema.

Other schemes which have been delivered as part of this ambitious regeneration programme include a new customer service centre, a library and council building known as Number One Riverside (see NSC June 2012), the new Rochdale Leisure centre, Rochdale Sixth Form College, (recently rated outstanding by Ofsted), and the award-winning river re-opening project.

It is hoped that the £80M Riverside development, with a central pedestrian street as a key feature, will transform the retail and entertainment offering in the town and encourage further inward investment.

There will be five separate steel-framed structures, a three-storey cinema block, a couple of retail blocks known as North and South, a two-storey anchor store to be occupied by Marks & Spencer and a three-level car park.

Working on behalf of main contractor Willmott Dixon, Hambleton Steel is the project’s steelwork contractor.

Rochdale Riverside is due to open in April 2020.