Outsiders may tell you that it always rains in Manchester, but residents know this is simply not true, which is why a good city centre apartment needs a great balcony to enjoy the sunshine.

That means here in Manchester glass balustrades are not just for increasing natural light and improving sightlines inside buildings, but outside as well. This point has been highlighted by the design of the next apartment blocks coming to the city.

Peel Waters has gained planning permission for the construction of another two blocks at Manchester Waters, a further redevelopment of brownfield land just west of the city centre overlooking the Bridgewater Canal and Manchester Ship Canal.

While the 159-home scheme marks a further step in the redevelopment of Pomona Island, which lies between the canals, a notable feature of the images of the apartments is the glass balustrades on the balconies. There will be another on the rooftop terrace, all offering excellent views over the nearby waterways and the wider cityscape.

While central Manchester and the areas immediately surrounding it are not blessed with much in the way of parkland – hence the euphoria at the appearance of the modestly-sized Mayfield Park in 2022, Manchester’s first new park in a century – there are certainly many places where new apartments can overlook waterways.

Other examples include Piccadilly Basin, New Islington, Salford Quays and the new developments emerging at Middlewood Locks, not to mention various other developments on either side of the Irwell and Manchester Ship Canal.

This won’t work for all new apartments in Manchester – it would be a bit windy in the highest of the new skyscrapers and a bigger health hazard below if something was dropped over the edge – but for smaller apartment blocks like these upcoming 13-storey buildings at Manchester Waters, they are ideal.