Bruntwood and Trafford Council want 14,215 sq ft of offices above the Stamford Quarter shops. Foundation is full, and the plans are not on the register yet.

Bruntwood and Trafford Council want to add 14,215 sq ft of workspace to Foundation, the converted department store at the top of Altrincham town centre. The two partners announced a £2.5 million investment on Wednesday. The new floor would sit above the retail units at Stamford Quarter.

The reason given is simple. Foundation is full.

The scheme has not yet reached Trafford Council’s planning register. We searched it on Thursday and found nothing.

What the plan involves

According to the joint announcement, the works would include:

  • 14,215 sq ft of extra workspace above the Stamford Quarter retail units
  • a new entrance created through the existing Foundation building, giving direct access to the new suite
  • improvements to the external elevation
  • new windows
  • a new roof
  • a mix of leased and managed space, aimed at scale-ups and established firms

All of it is described as subject to planning permission (Bruntwood: £2.5 million expansion of Altrincham workspace, Foundation).

How big that is against the existing building

The announcement does not say what proportion the extension represents. Bruntwood’s own completion release does.

When Foundation opened in March 2024, the partners described it as a 75,000 sq ft scheme. That split into 50,000 sq ft of commercial workspace and 25,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space (Bruntwood, 21 March 2024).

Set against that, 14,215 sq ft is an increase of roughly 28 per cent on the building’s workspace.

Foundation Altrincham floorspace, existing and proposed Bar chart. Foundation as built contains 50,000 square feet of workspace and 25,000 square feet of retail and leisure space, 75,000 square feet in total. The proposed extension would add 14,215 square feet of workspace, an increase of about 28 per cent on the existing workspace. Foundation: what is there, and what is proposed Floorspace in square feet As built, 2024 workspace 50,000 retail and leisure 25,000 75,000 Proposed extension 14,215 workspace, subject to planning permission That is an increase of about 28% on the 50,000 sq ft of workspace already in the building. Source: Bruntwood announcements, 21 March 2024 and 26 August 2026. Graphic by The Alty Post.
The proposed floor would be a little over a quarter as much workspace again as Foundation already holds.

What filled the building

Foundation reached full occupancy this month. The letting that took it there was to Askrose, an independent HMRC-authorised agent, which has agreed 2,910 sq ft of bespoke workspace. That space is being fitted out now.

Earlier customers include the sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE, which took the entire second floor on a 10-year lease, and the creative and digital marketing agency TGG, which moved its headquarters in.

Stamford Quarter’s own figures point the same way. In February the centre reported near-full occupancy across retail and workspace, and more than 4.5 million visitors in 2025, up 14 per cent on 2024 (Stamford Quarter).

Two more arrivals are booked. Superdrug was announced in March, and The Stretch Station, an Altrincham business, is opening a longevity and recovery studio in the quarter in autumn 2026 (Stamford Quarter).

What the two partners said

Sharon Johnson, head of commercial at Bruntwood Places, said demand at Foundation “has now reached full capacity” and that this had “given us the confidence to push forward with these exciting plans”.

Cllr Liz Patel, Trafford Council’s executive member for economy and regeneration, said the aim was “to create more capacity for ambitious, forward-thinking businesses … to base themselves in this vibrant working community, in the heart of Altrincham town centre”.

The application is not public yet

This matters if you want to comment on it, or object.

Foundation is a joint venture between Bruntwood and Trafford Council. The council is also the local planning authority that will decide the application. Both facts are stated openly in the partners’ own announcements.

We checked the council’s planning register on 27 August. There is no Foundation or Stamford Quarter application on it from August 2026:

  • The validated weekly lists for Altrincham ward for the weeks beginning 17 and 24 August contain three applications each. None is at Stamford Quarter.
  • A register search for “Stamford Quarter” returns 14 applications. The most recent was received in May 2025.

An application is normally published a few weeks after it is submitted, once the council has validated it. When it appears, it will carry a reference in the form 1198xx/FUL/26, and a 21-day window for public comments will open from the date the council writes to neighbours.

What it means for you: nothing is decided, and nothing is yet open for comment. If you want to have a say, the place to watch is the Trafford planning register, where the Altrincham ward weekly list is published each Monday. We will report the application here when it is validated, along with the route it takes, because the council’s dual role as partner and decision-maker will shape whether it goes to committee or is decided by officers. Our Altrincham planning news page tracks the borough’s live applications.

Sources