The image lifts the lid on the centrepiece of the scheme, a dramatic, full-height atrium carved straight through the existing structure. It rips open what was once a dark, featureless internal structure, flooding the space with natural light from top to bottom and completely reimagining how it feels to move through it.
Planting will spill down from roof terraces to ground level, softening the raw concrete frame and bringing a sense of calm to the heart of the building. What used to be solid and enclosed is being turned into something open, bright and full of life.
Karparc will deliver new homes right in the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, creating a community neighbourhood feel in a building most people would never have considered living in.
By reusing the existing structure, the scheme slashes carbon while celebrating the building’s original bones, proof that even the most overlooked spaces can be brought back to life.
This is the first time a multi-storey car park has been converted into homes in the UK, setting a new benchmark for how we rethink tired, redundant structures.
Martin Crews, Development Director for Capital&Centric said:
“This is exactly the kind of bold, innovative transformation we’re known for. Plenty of people said turning a multi-storey car park into homes was pie in the sky. When we submitted planning, we were told it would never happen. Now it’s under construction and we’re making it real.
“The next step is getting people to want to live here, and the way we do that is through brilliant design. This project leans into those raw, 60s retro vibes, with exposed concrete and loads of character. We’ve taken cues from iconic mid-century projects like the Barbican, and as this image shows, it’s going to look incredible.”
The image marks a major step forward for the scheme, offering a first look at how the internal spaces will come together as work progresses.
Simon McEneny, Deputy Chief Executive of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
“This structure has been a familiar landmark in the town for decades.
“However, this representation of how the site will look once it is complete shows why this innovative project, part of the wider multi-million pound regeneration of Newcastle’s town centre, is provoking international interest and will become a new landmark in its own right.”
The project is part of a wider £90m regeneration of Newcastle-under-Lyme, recently backed by a £19m funding boost from Homes England. It sits alongside Capital&Centric’s other upcoming town centre sites, “Astley Place” (the former York Place shopping centre) and “Rye Park” (a buzzing new neighbourhood in the Ryecroft area of Newcastle-under-Lyme).
The community is expected to complete in mid-2027.
About Capital & Centric
Social impact property developer Capital & Centric is delivering some of the most creative communities across the UK, bringing historic buildings back to life alongside imaginative new builds.
Co-founded by Tim Heatley and Adam Higgins, it has an enviable pipeline of regeneration projects featuring over 6,000 homes and totalling nearly £2bn. Expanded across the UK from its foundations in Manchester, it now spends an average £3 million a week on regeneration, with over 1,000 people employed on their sites.
See below for all the details on their completed projects, places in progress and some of the other cool stuff the team get up to.
Places in progress.
Place | Where | What |
Farnworth Green | Bolton | Re-boot of the town centre, with 85 apartments, net zero town houses, shops, bars, a community hub and new public square. |
Northstowe | Cambridge | Design of a town centre and 2000 homes as part of the Northstowe new town, named as a priority in the Chancellor’s maiden speech. |
Old Town Hall | Gateshead | Restoration and repurposing of the stunning Old Town Hall in Gateshead, Capital&Centric’s first project in the North East. |
The Littlewoods Project | Liverpool | Transformation of the former Littlewoods art deco building in Liverpool into a landmark destination for TV and film. |
Ferrous | Manchester | Growth of Manchester’s Piccadilly East neighbourhood, with 107 design-led rental apartments, rooftop garden and café bar. |
Talbot Mill | Manchester | Restoration of one of Manchester’s oldest Victorian mills in Castlefield into 190 apartments, with a lush canalside hidden garden. |
York Place | Newcastle-under-Lyme | Part of a coordinated overhaul of the town centre, with the former shopping centre being repurposed into homes and commercial spaces. |
Midway | Newcastle-under-Lyme | Groundbreaking conversion of a 60s concrete multi-storey car park into designer community, with homes, resident spaces and greenery. |
Ryecroft | Newcastle-under-Lyme | A mixed use neighbourhood centred around a new parkland, transforming a sprawling brownfield site in the town centre. |
Cannon Brewery | Sheffield | A new neighbourhood at the city’s former Cannon Brewery, featuring 500 new homes, workspaces, public square and community facilities. |
Weir Mill | Stockport | Stockport’s newest neighbourhood centred around restoration of the historic Weir Mill, with homes, workspaces, shops and outdoor spots. |
Goods Yard | Stoke-on-Trent | Stoke-on-Trent’s biggest regeneration project, a new urban district with homes, gardens and commercial spaces next to the mainline station. |
Civic | Wigan | Re-birth of the brutalist concrete civic centre into a new hub for creative businesses in the centre of Wigan. |
St Georges | Wolverhampton | A new city centre neighbourhood centred around a repurposed church, the subject of a RIBA design competition. |
Completed communities.
Place | Where | What |
Lightbox | Birkenhead | Design-led industrial spaces for R&D and lab spaces. |
Bunker | Liverpool | Award-winning, super energy efficient workspaces transformed from a windowless concrete bunker. |
Tempest | Liverpool | From brutalist beast to a thriving home of ambitious businesses, with café-bar and rooftop hangout. |
Crusader | Manchester | Award-winning re-birth of Victorian mill into an owner-occupier community, centred around a cloistered courtyard garden. |
Ducie Sreet Warehouse | Manchester | Creation of a cultural hub at the city’s heart, with an aparthotel, co-working space, café, bar, restaurant and gym. |
Kampus | Manchester | Canalside garden neighbourhood, packed with indie business, lush public gardens and over 500 homes across restored and new buildings. |
Leonardo | Manchester | A new icon on the city skyline, the ‘jenga hotel’ that brought the Leonardo brand to the city. |
Neptune Mill | Manchester | Envy-inducing workspaces packed with character in the converted Piccadilly East mill. Also Capital&Centric HQ. |
Phoenix | Manchester | New build community of homes just for owner occupiers at the heart of the city’s Piccadilly East neighbourhood. |
Foundry | Salford | Creative workspaces with a green boulevard. Home to film studios, micro-brewery and tech start-ups. |
Eyewitness Works | Sheffield | Character-packed apartments in a restored cutlery works, with three green courtyards and new build neighbour Brunswick. |
Other stuff they get up to
Capital & Centric is all about social impact, whether delivered through the communities it creates or the extra initiatives it comes up with. Outside of the day job, the team have:
- Created the Regeneration Brainery, a non-profit network of academies focused on supporting young adults to access careers in the property industry, and increasing the diversity and inclusivity of the sector.
- Led delivery of Embassy Village with the Embassy charity, a purpose built community in Manchester that will provide homeless and vulnerable men with their own front door and wrap-around support.
- Worked with countless creators across the cultural sector to foster communities by facilitating charity events, street parties, pop-up performances, art battles and residencies with indie operators in the communities where they work.
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