Create a ground-breaking creative, digital and media hub for innovation and content creation from the ground up with no existing architecture or infrastructure.
Build a secure, borderless, infrastructure which enables members of the community to collaborate by sharing information and data quickly and reliably.
Built a network which handles file sharing, digital signage, cloud computing and building management, making MediaCityUK a magnet for the most high-flying UK media companies.
Manchester - already a major centre for the creative, digital and media industries - is really making its mark on the media map with the building of the ground-breaking MediaCityUK development, which features BT technology at its heart.
The challenge
Starting from the ground up with no existing architecture or infrastructure to constrain them, BT and developers, The Peel Group, are working together to create a world-class hub for innovation and content creation, within a community environment.
Located at Salford Quays on the banks of Manchester’s historic ship canal, the MediaCityUK site is the first phase of a long-term scheme which has the potential to grow over 200 acres. It features one of the biggest HD studio complexes in Europe, with 7 HD studios, as well as two audio studios, one of which is dedicated to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Two residential towers house apartments, while shops, restaurants, coffee shops, offices and a hotel are all part of the facilities on offer for those who live or work at MediaCityUK.
Paul Newman, Communications Director, The Peel Group, said: “In order to help deliver this vision, we needed to attract bigger media businesses, which would in turn attract the editing, animation and creative companies who help them produce their programmes. For such companies – and therefore for us – technology is one of the major differentiators.”
Our aim is to bring together a range of ingredients that will make MediaCityUK a great place to live, work and visit.
The solution
The media industry has rich content and distribution requirements, so the site is underpinned by a state-of-the-art managed network, capable of managing multiple gigabytes of data. More than 20 million metres of optical fibre connect all the buildings within MediaCityUK (enough to stretch from Salford to Sydney), to carry voice, data, high and standard definition video and wireless communication services.
The result
In addition to the larger corporate names, we have more than 80 smaller creative businesses at MediaCityUK, such as TV producers, marketing agencies and computer game designers
