Construction management company Sir Robert McAlpine has been appointed to lead the development of the Therme Manchester project in the UK, which is slated to open at TraffordCity in late 2028. It broke ground today, Friday 12 September.

Therme Horizon, the holding company valued for Therme Group and its private equity partner CVC Capital, will fund the development.

Therme Group has updated the cost of the project to £450 million (US$609 million, €519 million). It has risen from £175m (US$228.7m, €205.7m) when the plan was first announced in 2019.

The 28-acre development is billed to be the biggest thermal pool complex in Europe under one roof.

The project will create around 2,500 construction jobs and when the resort opens it will employ 650 operations staff members.

Therme Group says sustainability is key to the project's design and that the carbon footprint per guest is "significantly lower than alternatives such as overseas travel or other spa experiences." The development is aligned with Manchester's target to become a carbon net zero city by 2038.

Professor David Russell, CEO of Therme UK, said: "Today marks the official beginning of a once-in-a-generation project for Manchester and the North West. Therme Manchester will be a place for everyone – a unique destination where wellbeing, sustainability, art and culture come together. Our vision is to make a lasting positive impact: creating jobs, supporting communities and helping people live healthier, happier lives for years to come.”

It will have indoor and outdoor botanical gardens, immersive art, more than 25 water slides, multiple steamrooms, a wave pool for children and families and what the company says will be the largest sauna area in the UK.

There will be three main experience spaces, called play, relax and restore.

Play

This space will be an area for family connection and fun in an indoor and outdoor setting. This is where there will be a wave pool, waterslides, outdoor beach, warm water pools, steamrooms and an area for red light therapy lounging.

Relax

A peaceful adults-only area, this section of the project will have saunas, indoor and outdoor pools, waterfall showers, mineral baths and steamrooms.

Restore

This is another adults-only area designed to offer health, nutrition and wellbeing therapies. Extended sauna experiences will be on offer, in addition to one-to-one consultations, spa therapies and functional technologies for personalised wellbeing.

The entire site is expected to attract 1.7 million visitors in its first year. In 2023 we reported that an independent study by PwC projected the resort will contribute over £4.5 billion to the UK economy – with most of the positive impact in the Greater Manchester area.