Huge sky garden boasting bars and restaurants on car park's disused roof thrown out over fire safety

The transformation of a Manchester car park into a huge sky garden with bars and restaurants would be ‘unsafe’ for patrons and staff in the event of a fire, council planners who rejected the proposals said.

Buzz Ventures had planned to establish the new venue, called Roofff, on the 10th floor of the Q-Park car park on First Street.

Roofff promised a ‘dynamic and exciting’ experience offering 360-degree views of the city’s skyline from wooden pergolas draped in vines and hanging plants.

But Manchester council planners also argued that there would not be enough parking, seating and toilets for people with disabilities or mobility issues.

Buzz Ventures, which specializes in turning unloved and forgotten spaces into food and drink venues, say they are tweaking their proposals with the council’s help to meet expectations.

Inside the botanical pavilion (Buzz Ventures)

Documents submitted to the town hall show that the new venue would share the disused roof with 33 parking spaces, though 30 bays would be lost.

The developer said disabled access would be provided with lifts taking visitors down to the 700+ capacity parking garage.

Disabled toilets were also proposed.

The outdoor bar area at Roofff (Buzz Ventures)

Officers, though, felt there was a lack of adequate facilities for the physically impaired, and also said the lack of a barrier between Roofff and the car park would cause safety risks.

But the council’s main concern was that the plan ‘fails to provide adequate escape measures’ to street level in the event of a fire.

With the roof capable of holding around 400 people, the council suggested that two storey exits and two staircases would be needed - but no such facilities exist at the Q-Park building, and none were proposed as part of the Roofff scheme.

The inside of Roofff at First Street at night (Buzz Ventures)

A report says: “The lack of adequate escape measures would make the proposed use of the rooftop unsafe for the occupiers, staff and customers of the proposed use in the event of a fire and prevent inclusive access putting disabled and people who have mobility impairments at increased risk because of inadequate escape measures.

“Furthermore, conditions may become untenable for people using the top floor before the fire is discovered and due to the high fire loading and large amounts of smoke caused by vehicle fires, people on the top floor may be exposed to toxic products of combustion before they are able to enter the protected staircase.”

A spokesman for Buzz Ventures said: “We are amending the plans having put a lot of hard work into the scheme.

“We are working with the council to resubmit them later on to make them work the way they want it to work.”