To outsiders, Stockport may sometimes seem like a satellite town of Manchester that is in the relatively slow lane as the big city booms and a new skyscraper seems to appear every week. However, anyone who lives in or visits the town knows things have been changing rapidly.
While most of the new tall buildings in Manchester are residential, there is another boom in town centre living going on.
The most obvious example of this is the cluster of new apartment blocks being constructed as part of the impressive £1 billion redevelopment of Stockport Bus Station, with a new park and potential future Metrolink stop added for good measure.
However, it’s not just about newly built apartments, but conversions of existing buildings, such as some of the surviving old mills, now given a new future as homes in a town centre that was once sparsely populated at night as Manchester was 30 years ago, but is on its way to becoming a hive of life.
This is all part of the council’s ‘Brownfield First’ policy that declares there is enough available land to meet the borough’s new housing needs up to 2038, keeping development away from the rural fringes.
However, as the town centre is redeveloped, there is the practical matter of kitting out the thousands of new apartments. This means landlords installing carpets need to choose wisely and also consistently.
Providing very different carpets in different apartments could lead to complaints as some tenants may be unhappy with what they have in comparison with their neighbours, so there needs to be consistency of design in bulk orders.
Some blocks may have stone steps without carpets, but these can be noisy underfoot and therefore their use can disturb neighbours, while they also convey a cold and sterile feeling. By contrast, carpets can insulate sound, are more comfortable for the feet and can add more colour and a ‘homely’ feeling.
However, such carpets, especially on communal stairs in a building of multiple occupancy, will take a lot of wear and tear. That means they need to be hard-wearing, so the right material must be used.
Nylon is an ideal option, because, on the one hand, it is very hard-wearing and can handle heavy traffic, while on the other it is more stain-resistant than natural materials and therefore will cope better if it is dealing with muddy footprints or food and drink spillages.
Such carpets can be applied on any stairs, whether these are older ones in a converted building or new ones built afresh as part of a complete revamp or a fresh construction.
Indeed, while many residential buildings will be purpose-built new builds and others converted from non-residential use, some will be refurbishments of existing residential properties that can be upgraded, made more upmarket and command higher rents or sale prices.
New apartment developments are increasingly springing up all over Greater Manchester and not just in the urban core, with Oldham the latest place to announce grand plans for its town centre with 2,000 homes.
Wherever the new apartment blocks are built, ensuring both the homes themselves and the stairs have high-quality carpets of the appropriate materials and design will be an important factor in making them great places to live.
