Home Manchester The Hive Creates Buzz at Two St Peter’s Square Manchester

The Hive Creates Buzz at Two St Peter’s Square Manchester

Instagram friendly Hive at Two St Peter's Square

A new 16ft interactive Hive inspired by the Manchester Bee is creating a real buzz among occupiers at Two St. Peter’s Square in Manchester. The innovative living art piece – the first concept of its kind in the city – was commissioned by CBRE, the property’s managing agents for the grand reception. It is designed to both engage occupiers and to reflect the status of the building which sits in the historic and world class Square.

Six months in the making, ‘The Hive’ is the brainchild of James Billington, founder of event and floristry specialists CitiBlooms in partnership with CBRE. The statement stainless steel beehive features 100 honeycomb hexagons and houses a living garden which will change with the seasons.

The Hive scheme’s focus is to engage with occupiers and to give them a new experience, but also to be multi-functional. Occupiers can sit inside and reflect; use it as a zen place of calm for wellbeing, as well as enjoy a sensory experience with the garden’s floral fragrances and listen to the sound of worker bees and classical music. It can also be used as flexible meeting space and to host pop-up shops with local businesses.

Two St. Peter’s Square, owned by a real estate fund managed by DWS, is located within the heart of Manchester’s business quarter and the building offers 161,065 sq ft of high quality office accommodation and is home to businesses such as EY, DWP and Distrelec.


The scheme also reflects the increasing importance CBRE places on customer experience and looking for new and smart ways to identify, communicate and deliver a location’s proposition and sense of place.

Caroline Murphy, Building Manager, CBRE’s Property Management FM team commented:

“Our aim was to create something bold and impactful to make a statement which would match the size and scale of the impressive reception space at Two St. Peter’s Square – a premier property in our portfolio. The Manchester Bee’s revival, spirit, pride and meaning to the local community really inspired our creative thinking and it grew into The Hive, a piece of art that is truly interactive and has been very well received by tenants.

“The worker bee symbol is also reflective of the hive of activity in St Peter’s Square, which has enjoyed a multi-million pound investment by Manchester City Council to create a world class component in the city’s civic and business quarter.”

James Billington, founder, CitiBlooms commented:

“CitiBlooms share a passion with St. Peter’s Square for creativity. We like to make a statement with our creations; a talking point for our clients, employees and passers-by. In designing and executing something unique like The Hive which is in-tune with the location, we want to contribute towards the Square, being a defining element of Manchester.”