Holt Town
Manchester City Council has approved the Holt Town Neighbourhood Development Framework (NDF), an ambitious vision that aims to transform this part of Manchester into a lively, sustainable, mixed-use neighbourhood. In a multidisciplinary team led by Studio Egret West, MVRDV played a unique consulting role: MVRDV NEXT created the project’s digital strategy and proposed a “digital twin” – a virtual counterpart to the neighbourhood that would enable performance tracking throughout the development process and provide a basis for monitoring and policy testing. As Holt Town evolves, so would its twin, allowing city officials, designers, and residents to make better proposals and decisions for the future.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom
- Status
- Design
- Year
- 2025
- Surface
- 300000 m²
- Client
- Manchester City Council
- Programmes
- Mixed use, Research, Master plan
Located between the Etihad Campus and Manchester’s expanding city centre, Holt Town represents a major opportunity to develop a mixed-use neighbourhood, while piloting new strategies for social change. This new urban district aspires to “regrow the community like a woodland”. The woodland analogy captures the layered approach to the framework – from the “roots” representing a connection with Holt Town’s heritage and social value, to the “canopy” envisioning creative roofscapes that serve as spaces for amenities and energy generation.
Central to the project is the creation of approximately 4,500 new homes, with a focus on a diverse mixture that caters to a range of ages, family sizes, and lifestyles, with 20 percent designated as affordable housing. Fifteen acres (six hectares) of green space will weave through the development, including "Confluence Park," a river park designed with sustainable urban principles to manage flood risks and enhance ecological habitats, and the one-kilometre pedestrian-friendly "Play Link" connecting the east and west sides of Holt Town. The plan also includes over 30,000 square metres of commercial space, alongside new leisure and cultural amenities such as a flexible cultural hub and a lido with a natural swimming pond on the historic reservoir site. A "mobility mill" could offer centralised parking wrapped with affordable workspaces and essential services.
In addition to its ecological and spatial ambitions, Holt Town aims to be UK’s first truly digitally enabled, citizen-centric town. The “Holt Town - Digital Town” framework outlines the use of digital tools at every stage: from public participation to planning and improvement of city services such as waste management and energy use.
A key component proposed in a supplement to the framework is a “digital twin” prototyped by MVRDV NEXT – a virtual counterpart to the physical neighbourhood that, if implemented, would serve as a platform for real-time monitoring of spatial quality, mobility, ecology, heritage and other key urban factors. The twin, intended to evolve as Holt Town changes, could assist with planning and design, guide development, test ideas in virtual settings, and connect official planning with proposals from the local community.
“With nearly 70 percent of the world's population predicted to live in cities by 2050, the need for smart, futureproof and adaptable urban planning has never been greater - decisions we make today can shape the cities of the future” explains Sanne van der Burgh, Head of MVRDV NEXT, the firm’s innovation department. “For example, if we see through real-time data that a public square isn’t being used as much as expected, we can adjust its design or programming to make it more inviting. By continuously monitoring and analysing the area’s performance, we can make better decisions during Holt Town’s development and long after it’s built.”
The digital framework also provides an initial dataset and recommendations for its maintenance and expansion into a functional tool as the project advances from NDF to the next phases. The ambitious redevelopment of Holt Town is a unique opportunity to integrate digital services and information systems from the beginning. While sensor networks and digital twins are usually retrofitted into urban fabrics, the open character of Holt Town makes the area an ideal test site for the application of virtual simulations and monitoring. Given that developing such infrastructure is labour-intensive and costly, the scalability of this digital approach to Greater Manchester, as well as collaboration with other British cities and national government further down the line, will be crucial to creating an efficient platform.
MVRDV is part of a multidisciplinary team led by Studio Egret West, alongside Deloitte, Turley, Hatch, Deetu, AKT II, and Hilson Moran, shaping the Holt Town Neighbourhood Development Framework (NDF) for the Manchester City Council.
Gallery
Credits
- Architect
- Digital Strategy
- Director
- Head of MVRDV NEXT