Urban Splash

Urban Splash, is a British company set up in 1993, which regenerates decaying industrial warehouses, mills, victorian terraced houses and other buildings, into modern housing, apartments and penthouses, as well as constructing new build developments. They are mainly based in the northwest cities of the United Kingdom such as Manchester, Bradford and Liverpool, but have recently expanded into the Midlands and the South in such places as Birmingham, Bristol (Lake Shore) and Plymouth (Royal William Yard).

Urban Splash was founded by Tom Bloxham, a graduate of the University of Manchester, whose initial business experience was selling pop posters in Affleck's Palace in Manchester. To expand his business Bloxham branched out as a landlord opening the N4 Arcade adjacent to the Palace. He then expanded into Liverpool, opening a shopping arcade called the Liverpool Palace and then into licensed premises with the founding of the Baa Bar in Liverpool with architect and Urban Splash co-founder, Jonathan Falkingham.

The company are renowned for taking on difficult sites and projects that other developers will not touch, such as the Budenburg Haus Projekte in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, Park Hill, Sheffield, the award-winning Chimney Pot Park [ [http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article4261072.ece Times online:Chimney Pot Park's regeneration by Urban Splash] Retrieved on 2008-07-13] in Salford, New Islington and Moho in Manchester and Lister's Mill in Bradford. They also place a big emphasis on design, employing well respected architects such as Foster and Partners, [http://www.shedkm.co.uk/ ShedKM] and Glenn Howells.

Urban Splash are currently developing two landmarks in Birmingham: The Rotunda and Fort Dunlop. They have also been chosen to redevelop the Waterfront in Walsall. In 2006, the company bought the derelict Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset. They have also been chosen as the developer for the East Wharf development project in Watchet, Somerset and have submitted plans to the local planning authority (as of May 2007). [cite web | url=http://www.westsomersetonline.gov.uk/template3.asp?parent=924&parent2=924&pid=1503&area=5 | title= Watchet East Wharf Development | work= West Somerset Council | accessdate=2007-06-18 ] Their redevelopment of Morecambe's famous art deco Midland Hotel is due to be completed in May 2008. Urban Splash along with Hammerson are the chosen developers to redevelop a large area of Swansea city centre.

Tom Bloxham has recently appeared on the "Sunday Times Rich List". In the 2005 list, it was stated that Bloxham had a personal fortune of around £50 million. He now resides in Worsley, Greater Manchester.

Urban Splash has recently announced it will be making significant redundancies [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7612847.stm "Staff at Urban Splash face cuts"] Retrieved on 2008-09-12] due to the downturn in the UK property market.

References

External links

* [http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_6qR0exy3EU Are Urban Splash taking the urine out of Park Hill?]