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THE NORTHWEST ARCHITECT

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THE NORTHWEST ARCHITECT

04Introduction to the

Photographer

05About The North West

Architect

06Modern Architecture

08Merseyside Primary School

10Park Brow School, Liverpool

12MOSI Great Western

Warehouse, Manchester

14Liverpool Tower

18People’s history Museum,

Manchester

20Travis Street Substation,

Manchester

22C-RMZ Widnes, Merseyside

24St John’s C.E. Primary School,

Blackpool

26Tom Reilly Building, Liverpool

29Manchester’s City Tower

30Well being Centre, Oldham

32Post War

34Manchester Central Library

36Royal Liver Building, Liverpool

38Sunlight House, Liverpool

40CIS Tower, Manchester

44Victorian Architecture

48Victorian Rail Station,

Manchester

52Lime Street Gateway, Liverpool

54Blackburn Technical shool

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56Chester Victorian

56Victorian Baths, Manchester

62Albert Docks, Liverpool

64Rochdale Town Hall

66William Brown Library,

Liverpool

68Manchester Cathedral

70The Gargantuan Warehouse,

Liverpool

73New Millenium

74Urbis Manchester

76The Beetham Tower,

Manchester

78New Islington, Manchester

84Blue Bell Health Centre,

Liverpool

86The Lowry Centre, Salford

88All Saints Primary School,

Bradford

90Alan Turning Building,

Manchester

92No1 Deansgate, Manchester

94Information System Services

(ISS) Building

96Paradise Street Bridge,

Liverpool

98Liverpool Science Park

100Sixth Form College, Rochdale

102Liverpool University Laboratory

103Moxton’s Hedgehog building

108Index

thenorthwestarchitect.co.uk

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Photographer Kam Tom Yip

Kam Tom Yip (formerly known as Bobby) is a freelance photographer based in Manchester. He specialises in outdoor photography using film and digital which is why I thought he would be perfect for this magazine issue. His work is recognised on Flicker and is appreciated greatly worldwide. He has been around the world photographing everything and everyone he sees. You rarely see Bobby without a camera.

ForM Follows FuncTIon The characteristics of modern architecture include the notion that “Form follows function”, a dictum originally expressed by Frank lloyd wright’s early mentor louis sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose. simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of “unnecessary detail”Visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements). The related concept of “Truth to materials”, meaning that the true nature or natural appearance of a material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to represent something else. use of industrially-produced materials; adoption of the machine aesthetic. Particularly in International style modernism, a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines

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Modern Architecture

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Modern architecture is generally character-ized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an over-arching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely. In a broader sense, early modern architecture began at the turn of the 20th century with efforts to reconcile the principles underlying architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. It would take the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification.

There are multiple lenses through which the evolution of modern architecture may be viewed. Some historians see it as a social matter, closely tied to the project of Moder-nity and thus the Enlightenment. Modern architecture developed, in their opinion, as a result of social and political revolutions. Others see Modern architecture as primar-ily driven by technological and engineering developments. Still other historians regard Modernism as a matter of taste, a reaction against eclecticism and the lavish stylistic ex-cesses of Victorian and Edwardian architec-ture.

With the Industrial Revolution, the avail-ability of newly-available building materials such as iron, steel, and sheet glass drove the

invention of new building techniques. In 1796, Shrewsbury mill owner Charles Bage first used his ‘fireproof ’ design, which relied on cast iron and brick with flag stone floors. Such construction greatly strengthened the structure of mills, which enabled them to accommodate much bigger machines. Due to poor knowledge of iron’s properties as a construction material, a number of early mills collapsed. It was not until the early 1830s that Eaton Hodgkinson introduced the section beam, leading to widespread use of iron construction. This kind of austere industrial architecture utterly transformed the landscape of northern Britain, leading to the description of places like Manches-ter and parts of West Yorkshire as “Dark satanic mills”. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an early example of iron and glass construc-tion, followed in 1864 by the first glass and metal curtain wall. A further development was that of the steel-framed skyscraper in Chicago around 1890 by William Le Baron Jenney and Louis Sullivan.

Around 1900 a number of architects and designers around the world began develop-ing new solutions to integrate traditional precedents (classicism or Gothic, for in-stance) with new technological possibili-ties. The work of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago, Victor Horta in Brussels, Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona, Otto Wagner and the Vienna Secession in Austria, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glas-gow, among many others, can be seen as a common struggle between old and new. The work of some of these were a part of what is broadly categorized as Art Nouveau (“New Art”). Note that the Russian word for Art Nouveau, and the Spanish word for Art Nouveau, “Modernismo” are cognates of the English word “Modern” though they carry different meanings. An early use of the term in print around this time, approaching its later meaning, was in the title of a book by Otto Wagner. The fallout of the First World War would result in additional experi-mentation and ideas. Following out of the experiments in Art Nouveau and its related movements around the world, modernism in architecture and design grew out of stylistic threads originating throughout world.

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The panels were specified for the colourful, contemporary facade of Park Brow Com-munity Primary School in Kirkby, designed by 2020 Liverpool for Knowsley Metropoli-tan Borough Council. Aluminium and Tres-pa faced panels from Panel Systems for Park Brow Primary School. The 2,884 sq m build-ing will also act as a hub for family learning and other activities to benefit the local com-munity.

The school, which has 420 pupils, plus 52 nursery places, opened in September 2011. Dark Grey aluminium infill panels formed part of a curtain walling systems on the three main elevations of the building, as a contrast to Trespa cladding panels, which were specified in Anthracite Grey and con-trasting warm, attractive hues of Gold Yel-low and Orange Red with a matt finish. The aim was to create a visually engaging building appropriate to an educational setting, by pro-viding a contrast of texture and colour. The infill panels achieve a U-value of 0.35 W/m2K and the building has been designed to achieve a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating.

Danny Phelan, Sales Manager for Panel Sys-tems, said: ‘Our composite panels were the perfect choice for this project as their as-sured thermal performance means they help to create low carbon buildings suitable for the 21st Century. The decorative Trespa face in three colours adds visual interest to the building. The panels had to meet exacting aesthetic and environmental credentials, as

well as being supplied cut to size, in order to meet a tight build schedule in time for the new school year’. Danny continues: ‘Our panels have been used extensively in modern educational buildings and Park Brow Prima-ry School is an excellent example of the way in which the different colours can be used to create a unique design. We worked with the contractor to produce bespoke panels which met the client’s precise requirements for sus-tainability, performance and aesthetics’.

Robert Brym, architect for 2020 Liverpool, said: ‘The facade of the building is given in-terest and aesthetics through the use of dif-ferent materials, changes in depth and col-ours and contrast between scale, mass and void, orientation and transparency. Within the designated budget, the design solutions are of the highest quality in being attractive, distinctive and inspirational to all users of the facilities’. The panels were manufactured with either a powder coated Aluminium or Trespa face which is vacuum bonded to a core of Styrofoam. Composite panels are typically specified when aesthetic considera-tions are paramount. Panel Systems’ bespoke service means that our panels can be sup-plied to specific sizes and edge details to suit individual glazing systems and achieve U val-ues as low as 0.10 W/m2K.

Aluminium and Trespa faced panels from Panel systems for Park Brow

Primary schoolPark Brow Primary School has been designed to minimise carbon emissions by using tech-nologies including digitally controlled light-ing and a biomass boiler. The building has also been orientated to maximise the use of natural daylight. Aluglaze from Panel Sys-tems has been supplied to a wide variety of commercial, educational and healthcare en-vironments. Panel Systems manufactures a full range of bespoke composite panels that are used to create aesthetically striking and thermally efficient buildings.

Merseyside primary school.

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Park Brow School liverpool

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MosI Great western warehouse Manchester

MOSI showcase the stories of Manchester’s greatest innovations and the people who cre-ated them. It is Manchester’s most popular museum, attracting up to 800,000 visitors every year, and is built on the site of the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station. The Great Western Warehouse is the entry point to the museum, which is housed in five listed buildings across a large site. Previous projects had left a cluttered and confussed first impression to visitors; with a mixture of uses, and the building domi-nated by large ramps rising through a central atrium.

The main aims of the project were to use the architecture of the building, and its spaces, to showcase and introduce the MOSI story; to engage and welsome visitors to the muse-um. The ramps have been removed and two new glazed stair cores built to the outside of the building. All accomodation has been ra-tionalised with a new ground floor gallery, extended conference facilities and independ-ant education suite on the second.

The architectural character of the building has been revealed, and as an integral part of the exhibition design and commercial spac-es, the Great Westurn Warehouse becomes part of the museum offer.

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Many of the apartments face south and all have floor to ceiling glass walls in living rooms and bedrooms. Air conditioning was essential and using heat pumps has produced savings from the fact that no other heating system is required. Hot water is available from floor by floor boilers and electric towel rails are installed in the bathrooms.

The developer and the consulting engineers saw that there was a clear opportunity to benefit from the energy saving advantages of heat recovery, that Toshiba VRF air con-ditioning can also provide, as not all of the building would need equal amounts of cool-ing or heating at the same time. The building has an orientation that emphasizes this.

The Toshiba systems have cooling capacities of 33.5 kW and heating capacities up to 35.5 kW. Each apartment has a sensor that has been very carefully sited to ensure the mean temperature is picked up – in this way they act like a typical residential thermostat. In the apartments air distribution is via ceiling grilles from ducted indoor units. Electricity is individually metered to each apartment enabling separate billing for the use of the ac system.

But the bills are expected to be satisfyingly small. The Toshiba units were selected for their low energy use and their reliability, which means low maintenance bills and lon-gevity. The design of Toshiba VRF systems differs from others in the market in several ways. Of particular importance is the use of

One of the ‘coolest’ new addresses on the Liverpool waterside, the 40 storey Beetham West Tower apartment block, is being kept cool by 17 R410A VRF SHRM heat recov-ery systems from Toshiba Air Condition-ing, supplied by Toshiba Distributor for the North West CDL. Unusually, this large quan-tity of plant has not had to be sited on the roof – enabling that to be occupied by pent-houses. The VRF ‘outdoor’ units are located ‘indoors’.

The Tower has been completed to co-incide with Liverpool’s stint as European Capital of Culture. The installation demonstrates some of the useful problem-solving characteristics of Toshiba’s flagship heating and cooling product range.

The scale of the work undertaken with VRF equipment just seems to get bigger and big-ger. Here, 34 floors of apartments are being air conditioned by Toshiba systems. In the main, there are four 2-bed (duplex) apart-ments per floor. The remaining six floors house offices and a restaurant, the Skybar, which is also air conditioned by Toshiba. At 450 feet the tower is the tallest building in Liverpool.

liverpool Tower has 34 floors of

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At 450 feet the tower is the tallest building in liverpool.

twin rotary DC inverter controlled compres-sors. Most other systems rely on a second fixed speed compressor leading to greater energy wastage. Twin inverter control means that variable seasonal loads are coped with much more easily. Each compressor can op-erate down to 450 rpm – the lowest in the market – so part load operation uses mini-mal energy but still closely maintains the re-quired temperature. These 12 HP machines utilize only a 20 Amp three phase supply as opposed to a more traditional 32 Amp sup-ply. The use of a twin rotary compressor design also reduces vibration and ensures negligible sound transmission and very quiet operation, especially significant in the Tower at night.

As noted, unusually, the Toshiba outdoor units have actually been sited indoors, in plant rooms on alternate floors, discharging into the plant rooms themselves with fan-as-

sisted ventilation. In the ceiling of each plant room a two-stage fan is installed enabling ex-tract to the storage plant room above. The fans have been sized to take account of the full operational air volume of the condenser.

The indoor location for the units was par-ticularly attractive to the developer due to the aggressive external riverside atmosphere with its saline winds. The forced ventilation provided a further bonus as the local bin stores throughout the building also get ven-tilated at no additional cost.

The intricate ventilation system design was the result of effective collaboration between the Toshiba projects’ team and consulting engineers Buro Happold. The mechanical and electrical contractors were A&B Engi-neering. The specialist air conditioning con-tractor was Protemp and the main contrac-tor was Carillion Construction.

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Manchester’s People’s History Museum’s unique collections track the development of democracy through the lives of the working people of Britain.

Although boasting a world class collection the Museum’s split between two sites had neither helped its public profile ir its op-eration and management. Our job was to help the museum a striking new presence in the city. A piece of Manchester City Council owned land next to the museum’s occupation of an Edwardian hydraulic pumping station unlocked the potential for a landmark extension providing new galleries and front of house facilities and allowing a sensitive restoration of the his-

People’s History MuseumManchester

toric buildings. A new entrance next to a busy city centre artery leads into a gener-ous new concourse area links the old and new areas of the museum. A new river-side restaraunt and terrace helps raise the public’s awareness of the museum. The upper level of the new extension house environmentally conditioned galleries for the permanent collection and a state of the art conversation studio. At its lowest level it provides a new BS5454 archive with a reading room overlooking the River Irwell.

Clad in COR-ten steel, the new extension has been described as “a little miracle of urban design”

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Travis Street Substation, Manchester

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£3.5m Lottery-Funded restoration success for MyPlace at C-RMZ Widnes

C-RMZ, the new youth mega-club in Widnes has been extremely well received in a community with high levels of depriva-tion. ‘Myplace’ is a lottery-funded initiative by central government to deliver a world class youth facility throughout England and the establishment of C-RMZ, promoted by Halton Borough Council, realises that aim in a fine example of a listed 1930’s health centre.

‘Myplace’ has been refurbished, re-ordered and extended around a sports courtyard to create a generous, well-equipped commu-nity facility, securing the future of a fine public building. The building features fit-ness and sports facilities, club and chill out rooms, art and IT rooms, media suites in-cluding recording studios and a broadcast room, performance hall, sensory and thera-py rooms and a training kitchen.

Austin-Smith:Lord were commissioned through the Buying Solutions Framework for this project where Sustainability was high on the agenda for the young people, the local council and the design team. De-veloped with Best Practice procedures from design inception through to building com-pletion in consultation with young people from the local community (Youth Design Team), the facility establishes a landmark for community pride and youth cohesion in the borough.

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st John’s c.E. Primary school,

Blackpool

St John’s Primary School is an innovative three storey new build school situated in the heart of Blackpool town centre. This unique £3.9m project designed by Aedas was commisioned by Blackburn Diocese with funding from the department for children, Schools and Families through the Targeted Capital Fund.

The 1,500m2 scheme includes a 16 place early years unit, facilities for community use and a 1FE primary school each ac-cessed via seperate entrances. The unusu-al height and design works with the tight urban context maximising both space and light whilst providing a secure and safe environment for staff and pupils to enjoy.

St John’s CE Primary school sets a new standard in the design of urban primary schools and shows exactly what can be achieved on a restrictive town centre site. The new school building works with its context maximising space through carefl structural design and incorporation of a large outdoor and indoor spaces offering spectacular views over Blackpool.

One of the most striking features of the building is the triple height stained glass panel designed by artist David Griffin and the pupils of St John’s CE Primary School, which is emblematic of the schools ethos and identity.

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Tom Reilly Building, Liverpool

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In 2007, Austin-Smith:Lord was selected to design a £20m state-of-the-art faculty build-ing for the departments of Sports Science and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). This project was deliv-ered successfully in just over two years.

Located on a restricted site at the northern end of the Byrom Street campus, this devel-opment formed the first phase of a wider masterplan for the University’s Liverpool city centre campuses.

Within this restricted site, 6,500sqm of ac-commodation was provided for a wide-range of purposes: specialist bio-mechanics labo-ratories, a 60 metre running track, environ-ment chambers, general teaching laborato-ries, classrooms and staff offices.

Joe Connell, Director of Estates and Facili-ties Team at LJMU has said: “The University is delighted with The Tom Reilly Building. The design team produced an exceptional building and their dedication to the project meant that it was delivered in just over two years. Having already produced three RIBA Award winning buildings for LJMU, The Tom Reilly building now forms part of the successful partnership history we have with Austin-Smith: Lord”.

Awards:2010 Silver Roses Design Award, Education/Project2009 RIBA Shortlist

The Tom Reilly Building

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Manchester’s City Tower

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Client: Community 1st Oldham Contract value: £10m Blue sky services: Architect Procurement: Design and build

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Following World War II, the slow work of rebuilding Manchester began and the tran-sition from warehouse to office blocks be-came ever more apparent as Manchester’s in-dustrial prowess waned. The widely admired Manchester Assize Courts became one of Britain’s ‘lost buildings’ had to be demol-ished in 1957 following unrepairable damage which was suffered during the Manchester Blitz. It has been said that few aesthetical-ly memorable buildings were constructed in Manchester in the fifties and sixties, but there were some which were grew into im-portant landmarks for the city.

The first major building to be constructed following the war was the unpretentious Granada Studios complex in 1954. Commis-sioned by Sidney Bernstein and designed by Ralph Tubbs, it would become home to Gra-nada Television with the site centring around the Granada House. The studios notable fea-ture was the lattice tower and the red, neon Granada TV signage in period font.

The CIS Tower was opened in 1962, a 118m office block which became the tallest build-ing in the United Kingdom. The tower would become home to The Co-operative Group and was designed to showcase Man-chester and the Co-operative movement. The skyscraper was clad in photovoltaic cells in 2005.

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Designed by architect Vincent Har-ris, the striking rotunda form of the library was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Like its 2nd-century model, the library is a round building fronted by a large two-storey portico which forms the main entrance on St Peter’s Square, and is surrounded by five bays of Co-rinthian columns. Around the second and third floors is a Tuscan colonnade, topped by a band of unrelieved Port-land stone.

The pitched leaded roof appears from street level to be a dome, but this is only a surrounding roof. The dome that can be seen from within the Great Hall lies within this roof, and cannot be seen from the ground.

Harris took much of his inspiration for the interior design from new trends in library design in the United States.

On the first floor is the Great Hall, a large reading room topped by a dome. Much of the original furniture de-signed by the architect can be seen on this floor. Around the rim of the dome is an inscription from the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament:Wisdom is the principal thing; there-fore get wisdom, and with all thy get-ting get understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost em-brace her, she shall give of thine head an ornament of grace, a crown of glo-ry she shall deliver to thee.

In former years the dome’s acoustics caused an echo problem, which repeat-ed several times any short noise made in the room. Adding sound-absorbing material has made this echo much less.The Front Portico Entrance

The Shakespeare Hall is an ornate chamber displaying local heraldry and with large stained glass windows. The central window was designed by Robert Anning Bell and depicts Wil-liam Shakespeare and scenes from his

plays. Two side windows designed by George Kruger Gray depict the coats of arms of the City of Manchester, the University of Manchester, and the County and Duchy of Lancaster. The windows were a memorial bequest to the library by Rosa E. Grindon (1948-1923), the widow of Manchester bota-nist Leo Grindon.

The ceiling decorations include the arms and crests of the Duchy of Lan-caster, the See of York, the See of Manchester, the City of Manchester, and Lancashire County Council. The walls of Shakespeare Hall are covered with Hopton Wood stone quarried in Derbyshire. On the walls are the arms of The Manchester Grammar School, Manchester University, the Manches-ter Regiment, Humphrey Chetham, the Overseers of the Township, Eng-land, St. George, St. Mary (patron saint of Manchester), and over the memo-rial window, Shakespeare.

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On the left landing is a white marble statue, the Reading Girl by the Ital-ian sculptor Giovanni Ciniselli. It was bought by the industrialist and pro-moter of the Manchester Ship Canal, Daniel Adamson. The statue was pre-sented to the library by his grandchil-dren, the Parkyn family, in 1938.

“when it was being built the

public were very intrigued about its final appearance”

Beneath the Great Hall lie four floors of book stacks providing 35 miles of shelving which accommodate one mil-lion books. The floors are only acces-sible to employees and are environ-mentally controlled to protect books, many of which are old and in a fragile condition.

Central Library opened in 1934 to much fanfare. Singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl reminisced on the opening: The new Central Library which re-placed the chicken house was an im-posing circular structure with an enor-mous reading room, a small theatre and carrels where serious students could carry on their research without inter-ruption. The portico of the magnifi-cent edifice quickly became a popular rendezvous and “Meet you at the Ref ” became a familiar phrase on the lips of students, lovers and unemployed youths. I was there on the opening day and on many days thereafter; the Ref played an important part in my life for I made many friends there.

The library was declared open by King George V on 17 July 1934. George V declared to the crowd: “In the splendid building which I am about to open, the largest library in this country provided by a local authority, the Corporation have ensured for the inhabitants of the city magnificent opportunities for further education and for the pleasant use of leisure.”

An employee at the library who was present on opening day said: “When it was being built the public were very intrigued about its final appearance - they were used to rectangular build-ings and the shape of the girders used seemed to make little sense. I remem-ber families coming in first to “gawp” ... Under the portico became a favour-ite trysting place. In all, the shape of the building was its best advertisement and it was never necessary to put a no-tice ‘Public Library’ on the outside.”

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The head offices of the Royal Liver Friendly So-ciety, which had its origins as a mid-19th century burial club was designed by Aubrey Thomas.

It is notable as one of Britain’s first multi-storey reinforced concrete framed buildings. Stylistically unique in England, it is more akin to the early tall buildings of America such as the Allegheny Court House (1884) by H. H. Richardson and the Garrick (formerly Schiller) Theatre by Adler and Sullivan, with eclectic Baroque, art nouveau and Byzantine influences in its modelling.

It has nine bays to the principal frontages and thir-teen bays on the secondary return sides, and the ground and first floors, are deeply rusticated.

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The top floor steps back behind a Doric col-onnade, taking advantage of the technical possibilities offered by its reinforced con-crete structure.

The roof is piled up with turrets and domes in receding stages and the clock towers have copper Liver Birds on top, by George Cow-per and the Bromsgrove Guild.

The two birds face away from each other, one towards the river and the other towards the city. The poses are traditional, the birds stand with half-upraised wings, each carrying a sprig of seaweed in its beak.

The birds are 18 ft high, their heads are 31/2 ft long, the spread of the wings is 12 ft, their length is 10 ft and the legs are 2ft in cir-cumference. Their bodies and wings are of moulded and hammered copper fixed on a steel armature.

Although there are Liver Birds on many buildings in Liverpool, it is the two which roost on top of this building that are the big-gest in the city and which to many people are the very identity of Liverpool.

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Sunlight House is a landmark Grade II listed office building constructed in the 1930’s and located immediately adjoining “Spinningfields”, Manchester’s exciting new business district which has attracted major occupiers including Royal Bank of Scotland, Halliwells, Pinsent Masons, Grant Thornton, Deloitte & Touche, Bank of New York Mellon, Guardian & Man-chester Evening News Group and the new Justice Administration Centre.

The main entrance and common areas have undergone comprehensive refurbish-ment/remodelling works which has now been completed providing a stunning first impression to visitors.

Sunlight House benefits from a manned main entrance reception and on-site Building Manager and has its’ own secure multi-storey car park, which is for the ex-clusive use of Sunlight House occupiers and which provides spaces on a very gen-erous ratio of 1:730 sq ft.

A range of office accommodation is avail-able within the building.

The 9th -12th Floors provide a total of nearly 49,000 sq ft over 4 floors with floor-plates ranging from 10,275 sq ft up to 14,306 sq ft. These floors can be com-bined to meet any size of requirement and can also be split to provide suites from c. 3,400 sq ft.

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The accommodation has been refurbished to include full access raised floors, air con-ditioning and suspended LG3/LG7 light-ing. The original plaster ceilings have been exposed and reinstated.

We also have a series of smaller suites available ranging from 658 sq ft to 1,610 sq ft and a fully fitted (partitioned, with comfort cooling) suite of 5,166 sq ft on the 1st floor.

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The 1960s cIs Tower as it appeared pre-2006

The office tower building rises above a five-storey podium block. It has a steel frame and glass curtain walls with metal window frames. Black vitreous enamel panels demar-cate the floor levels. The building materials, glass, enamelled steel and aluminium, were chosen so that the building could remain clean in the polluted Manchester atmos-phere. The tower’s concrete service shaft, which rises above the office tower, has two bands of vents at the top and was clad in a mosaic made up of 14 million centimetre-square, grey tesserae designed to shimmer and sparkle. The projecting reinforced con-crete service shaft houses lifts and emergen-cy stairs.

The ground floor is set back behind six pil-lars. A green bronze-like, abstract mural sculpted by William George Mitchell made from fibreglass covers the entrance hall’s rear wall. The building has 700,000 square feet of floor area with clear open spaces on the office floors. Interiors were designed by Misha Black of the Design Research Unit. The executive areas are delineated by the use of teak and cherry wood veneers.

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The Midland Hotel was built to replace two earlier hotels: the North Western Hotel built in 1848 by the “little” North Western Railway which had been renamed the Midland Hotel in 1871 when the Mid-land Railway took over the North Western Railway; and another hotel at Heysham,the Heysham Towers, which was converted from a private house in 1896. The Hey-sham Towers served railway steamer traf-fic from Heysham Harbour to Belfast; but it was not a success and was sold in 1919.

In 1932, the London, Midland and Scot-tish Railway (LMS) bought land from Morecambe Corporation to build the 40-bedroom Midland Hotel replacing the old hotel. It opened in July 1933.

The hotel is designed in the Streamline Moderne style of Art Deco. Oliver Hill designed a three-storey curving building, with a central circular tower containing the entrance and a spiral staircase, and a circular cafe at the north end. The front of the hotel is decorated with two Art Deco seahorses, which can be viewed at close proximity from the hotel’s rooftop terrace.

The hotel stands on the seafront with the convex side facing the sea, and the con-cave side facing the former Morecambe Promenade railway station – in homage to the railway company whose showcase hotel this was. Hill designed the hotel to complement the curve of the promenade, which allowed guests to view spectacular panoramas of the north west coast.War time use and disposal

The Midland Hotel and Morecambe be-gan to lose popularity and in September 1939 the hotel was requisitioned by the Royal Navy.The navy used it until Septem-ber 1947; paying £1,900 rent per year.

On nationalisation of the railways, owner-ship transferred to the British Transport Commission (BTC) on 1 January 1948 coming under the control of the BTC’s Railway Executive; however on the 1 July 1948, along with the other railway hotels, ownership was transferred to the BTC’s Hotels Executive. It was sold by the Ho-tels Executive in 1952

The Midland HotelMorecambe

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Manchester became the trading centre for cotton, a centre for railways, warehouses and banking. As Manchester prospered, new buildings representing Manchester’s stand-ing and growing wealth went hand in hand. A prominent architectural style of the Victo-rian era was neogothic design. Some of the finest neogothic buildings are in Manchester, including Manchester Town Hall, Gorton Monastery, Manchester Assize Courts (de-molished in the 1950s because of unrepair-able damage resulting from the Manchester Blitz) and John Rylands Library.

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Manchester Town Hall, designed in a Gothic Revival architecture style was the most notable Victorian era building. Com-pleted in 1877, the interior of the building has various statues as well as The Man-chester Murals which were painted by Ford Madox Brown.

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In Manchester, England is the city’s sec-ond largest mainline railway station and a Metrolink station, one of eight within the city zone. It is situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Man-chester Cathedral.

The station serves destinations north and east of Manchester, with some trains to Liv-erpool, mostly on the original Manchester to Liverpool line. The line from Bury was converted to light-rail operation in the early 1990s when the Metrolink tram system was created, and the trams switch to on-street running once they emerge from Victoria Sta-tion. Current plans for Phase 3 of Metrolink involve the conversion of rail routes from Victoria to Rochdale via Oldham to light rail. Most trains calling at the station are operated by Northern Rail, except during engineering works, when some trains are diverted from Manchester Piccadilly.

In 1838 Samuel Brooks, vice-chairman of the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) bought land at Hunt’s Bank close to the cathedral and pre-sented it to the company for a station to replace the

inconveniently located Manchester Oldham Road railway station opened by the company on 3 July 1839. The station was initially a long, low single-storey building designed by George Stephenson and completed by John Brogden on 1 January 1844. It was named Victoria by permission of Her Majesty. The long single platform handled M&LR trains to Leeds and elsewhere at its eastern end. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway ex-tended its line from Ordsall, near the original Manchester Liverpool Road railway station, and its trains operated from Victoria’s west-ern end from 4 May 1844. By the mid-1840s six railway companies op-erated from the station connecting Manches-ter to London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. Victoria Station came to dom-inate the Long Millgate area and was one of the biggest passenger stations in Britain. Victoria was enlarged by William Dawes, who is responsible for most of the remain-ing facade, in 1909. The enlarged building was erected on land consecrated as a burial ground on 1 January 1815 by the Bishop of Chester; this land was acquired by the Man-chester and Leeds Railway in 1844. It was enlarged to 17 platforms. Wealthy commut-ers travelled from Blackpool and Southport rather faster than is possible today (e.g. 45 minutes from Southport in 1910, 67 today; and 65 minutes from Blackpool in 1910, 77 today) in specially-constructed club cars

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VIcTorIA Is THE MAIn sTATIon For THE

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hauled by express steam locomotives. These non-stop services were abandoned in the early 1960s. The Edwardian building has a 160 yards (146 m) facade, which carries an iron and glass can-opy bearing the names of the original desti-nations served, and a tile mural depicting the routes of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail-way, which operated most of the trains from the station between 1847 and 1923, when it became one of the main constituents of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Canopies covered the waiting area for taxi cabs until they were damaged in the Provi-sional IRA 1996 bombing. They have been restored. The cast-iron train sheds behind the façade are 700 yards (640 m) long. Ini-tially the station was approached by a wood-en footbridge over the River Irk, which has sub-sequently disap-peared beneath culverting along-side the cathedral.

From 1884, Victoria Station was adjacent to Manchester Exchange Station, operated by the rival London and North Western Railway, and, from 1929, a single passenger platform which linked the stations was the longest pas-senger platform in Europe at 2,194 feet (669 m). Exchange Station closed in 1969 and its services were transferred to Victoria. Its site opposite the cathedral is now a car park. In the early 1970s, as part of the Picc-Vic tun-nel project, there were proposals to build an underground station, Victoria Low Level. The project was cancelled and subsequent rail improvements concentrated on surface projects and the introduction of light rail. Victoria is the main station for the Manches-ter Arena, which was joined to the station between 1992 and 1996 by means of a raft above the through rail platforms. The princi-pal access to the Arena is via stairs on Hunts Bank and an entrance from the main sta-tion concourse. During construction of the arena, the station was reduced significantly

in size. Most of its through tracks were removed, along with the for-mer platforms 12--17, their overall roof and platform buildings.

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The scheme will create an open and dramatic civic gateway with welcoming views of Liverpool’s skyline and the impressively fine architecture of Lime Street station. Spaces paved in york stone will form a series of plateau areas, striking a relationship between the new public realm and the simple expanse of St George’s Plateau. Primarily, these spaces will create ease of movement, allowing for the natural ebb and flow of inward and outward commuter travel patterns. Tiers of seating terraces alongside the station archway will offer great views for visitors and a sunny aspect for rest and relaxation. A wide upper terrace at the southern corner of the station shed has been provided. This has the potential for future use as a seating terrace for a new station café.

The concrete mess on the front of Lime Street Station was one of the worst eyesores in the city. It was a badly executed, dreary, unimaginative waste of concrete that hadn’t aged well. Worse it was right in the heart of the city centre, covering up the face of one of the country’s great Victorian railway stations that is still a major gateway for visitors arriving in Liverpool. So when they finally started to pull it down I was really looking forward to seeing the new front.

lime street Gatewayliverpool

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The main campus is in Blackburn town centre and consists of several buildings. The oldest is the Grade II listed Blackburn Technical School, built between 1888–1894; the building, situated at the centre of the campus, is now called the Victoria Building.[3] Other buildings on the campus were built between the 1960s and 1980s. The increase in higher education, in conjunction with the East Lancashire Institute of Higher Education, resulted in an expansion of the college into a former British Telecom office building in the 1990s.

In addition to the main campus, the college has two smaller sites, The Saturn Centre in the Greenbank area and Darwen Access Point in Darwen

In the 2000s, four phases of construction were announced, as the college aims to modernise its campus and increase the range of degrees offered. The first was St Paul’s Centre, with IT and sixth form facilities, which was completed in 2007 at a cost of £8.8million. The second, a new higher education building, was completed during the summer of 2009, and the completion of the third site (a mechanics workshop) is scheduled for 2009. The final phase will be a new main college building

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Even though Chester has a number of medieval buildings, some of the black-and –white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations. It is one of the best preserved walled cities in the UK. The walls are the most complete, accessible and walkable walls in Britain. On the 3km circuit you can enjoy the stunning views.

During the Industrial Revolution railways, canals and new roads brought substantial expansion to Chester. Victorian Chester Town Hall and Grosvenor Museum date back to this time.

Chester was founded as a Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in AD 79. Probably originating from trade with the fortress a civilian settlement grew around the military base. Even Chester’s four main roads Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge follow routes laid out at this time.

Churches have stood on the site of Chester Cathedral for over 1.000 years. The 10th century minster was built to house the relics of St Werburgh. St Werburgh’s Abbey was transformed to a cathedral in 1540 and is still one of the best preserved examples of a Benedictine abbey in England and a place where history has happened.

In the heart of the Cloisters of Chester Cathedral lies the cathedral garden, a place of interest not only because of the plant species but the design.Chester not only has a rich heritage but also boasts a vide range of museums and galleries with fascinating collections.

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Prior to last weekend’s local history fair, vol-unteers at Victoria Baths received the portrait of one of Longsight’s most famous sons – an Olympic swimmer who learnt his strokes in the Edwardian pools. Michael Pooler went along for viewing and took a tour around a building steeped in local history and sociological signifi-cance.

Last wednesday saw the arrival – or rather the long-awaited return – of Rob Derbyshire to Victoria Baths, in the form of a portrait painted in 1948. Rob was the son of the first ever su-perintendent of the baths and won an Olympic gold medal as part of the GB water polo team in 1900, as well as later on taking them to the 1936 Games as trainer. Depicted proudly in a swim-ming suit bearing the insignia of Great Britain the portrait is a fitting tribute to a man who was once a feted star in this part of Manchester.

My volunteer tour guide, Barry Johnson, tells me that the seated balconies which encircle the prin-cipal pool would be teeming full of supporters at water polo matches – back then a hugely popular sport.

“In those days Rob Derbyshire would have been a local hero, like Premier League stars today.”The first part of the tour consists of visiting the basement archives which house hundreds of documents and objects related to the baths such as trophies, swimming costumes and minute-books of association meetings. It also boasts a large audiovisual collection with interviews from older local residents recounting their memories

of the baths. Much of the archives relate to or-dinary peoples’ experiences and Barry is keen to impress the importance of this aspect of social history, with particular emphasis on maintaining the oral tradition of passing history from one generation to another by spoken word.

“Whereas most organisations involved in the preservation of sports facilities focus only on the records and achievements of celebrated sports-men and women, we are interested in ordinary people and their experiences.”

Upon walking through the main entrance of the baths you are struck immediately by its magnifi-cence: brilliant emerald green tiles fired in Sal-ford adorn the walls; floors covered by mosaic patterns; and luxurious fully ceramic banisters lead upstairs. It is little wonder that the building is Grade II listed. So it remains a matter of some mystery why to this day it has only been partially restored. Built in 1906 by the Council, it was the main swimming pool in Manchester for 86 years until its closure in 1993 when it was considered too expensive to keep running. Since then a dedicated group of volunteers – the Friends of Victoria Baths – have worked towards its resto-ration.As we talk about the origins of the baths, my guide puts to rest oft-repeated myths which por-tray Public Baths as a benevolent gift from phi-lanthropists of the period. While this was a fac-tor in their creation, there was also a degree of self-interest – namely, concerns of public health and hygiene.

“In Manchester at the turn of the 20th Century the working and middle classes lived in greater proximity to one another. The wealthy were worried about diseases spreading from the lower class areas to their own and so the baths were built as part of a public health programme.”

“In THIs rEsPEcT THE BATHs ArE

FAscInATInG As THEY ArE rIcH In socIAl

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The baths originally con-sisted of three pools: men’s first class, men’s second class and the la-dies’ pool. While it is easy to attribute the gender separation to prevailing social cultural norms of the era, the distinction of quality – based upon the ability to pay – is revealing of social attitudes and how class played a defining role in society.

For even the engineering of the swimming pools tells uneasy truths about social stratification of the day and sheds light on the treatment of low-er social classes – especially women. The pools were fed with water for many years by a nearby Artesian well, dug deep into the ground. Water would be pumped into the first class pool and, on entering its filtration system, would then be recycled first into the men’s second class and fi-nally the ladies’. What this meant was men who could not afford the most expensive tariff would swim in increasingly dirty water while women were effectively treated as sub-citizens, permit-ted only to bathe in the muck of others. This is echoed in the decoration: while the first class entrance is one of breathtaking Edwardian el-egance, the others are far less ornate and more functional.

Such an arrangement would of course be un-thinkable nowadays in our society where equal-ity and eliminating discrimination are sacrosanct. But it requires no more than a quick examination of private member gyms’ facilities compared with decrepit public leisure centres to see how new forms of social division manifest and justify themselves.

From this perspective the building is a case study in how the manipulation of public spaces has a subtle – but extremely powerful – effect of so-cial control and segregation. The easing of gen-der segregation began a gradual process from 1914 onwards, however my guide tells me of how there is a growing demand for women only swims nowadays in particular from the Muslim community.

The bathing habits of users is another factor indicative of prevailing living conditions of the early 20th century Manchester. On the day be-fore the weekly change of the water, so-called ‘Dirty Day’ due to the rank state of the wa-ter, entrance was cheaper. These days were far busier, highlighting the paucity of disposable income of Mancunians and where priorities lay. Before the introduction of chlorine in water for reasons of hygiene, breakouts of infectious dis-eases caused the baths to be closed for reasons of public health.

Equally, the existence of slum houses without basic wash facilities across Manchester accounts for the continuing use of individual cubicles with bathtubs until the early 1970s. Barry tells me an anecdote of a young man from the west coast of Ireland, a region marked by indigence, who had come to work as a labourer in England. He was thrilled by the facilities, commenting “you get your own bathtub; there’s a towel and eve-rything!”

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This aptly illustrates how the two-fold nature of the function of the baths was played out along socio-economic lines. While the middle and up-per classes – who largely had access to baths at home – used the baths as a source of leisure and recreation, for many families during industrial times it was a necessary amenity for hygiene.

That the baths hosted a broad spectrum of Manchester society from working class families to the upper echelons of business and even the criminal fraternity is symbolised by the once-lavish Turkish baths. Local legend has it that well-known gangsters would seal their deals in the hot dry heat, reserved for those who could afford the expense.

The establishment was also pioneering in the do-main of hydrotherapy, being the first municipal baths in Britain to have installed an ‘Aerotone’ in 1952. This device, consisting of a steel tank sunk into the floor in which springs of hot water were pumped, is similar to a modern-day Jacuzzi. It was used to rehabilitate and treat injuries; among its users at one point were the players and physio staff of football clubs Manchester United and Manchester City, many years before the explo-sion of revenues in football meant they could af-ford their own facilities.

The ultimate goal of the Friends of the Baths is to restore the building to its former functional glory. A massive step was taken in this direction when it became the first project to win the BBC2 Restoration series which saw funding to the tune

of £3.5m in 2003. It currently receives support from the Lottery, English Heritage and Man-chester City Council.

Nowadays the building is home to various activi-ties: from exhibitions of up and coming artists, a performance space for secondary school ama-teur dramatics and the local history fair to being used as a scene for shooting of TV drama Life on Mars.

So what does the future hold? As of today there is still no national swimming museum in Brit-ain and the grandeur and history of the baths justifies its consideration as a potential site. But the existence of other, more modern swimming pools and the increasing popularity of private membership gyms pose an obstacle to funding.

“We are working with the Council to decide on a future use for the Baths, as well as improving ac-cess for the community. It is a fantastic building, rich in history, that deserves to be preserved and restored,” says Neil Bonner, the project manager.

Until then, volunteers will continue to service a grand building which offers a penetrating and stirring snap-shot of Mancunian society across a broad time-span.

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Albert Dock The Albert Dock is a complex of dock build-ings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hart-ley and Philip Hard-wick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood. As a result, it was the first non-combustible warehouse system in the world.

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Liverpool has many attrac-tions with large parks and impressive public buildings which reflect the city’s rich heritage. St. George’s Hall, Walker Art Gallery, Royal Liver Building, Albert Dock, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool (a modern art gallery) are among the examples of the city’s splendid architecture.

Being the home The Beatles, Liverpool has many Ain-treethat commemorate the story of the most successful band of all time. The Beatles Story is the only museum in the world that focuses en-tirely on the band. The Wa-terfront Region in Liverpool was awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO, recognising the city for its outstanding values and role in development of trade. The city has recently been award-ed as the European Capital of Culture 2008.

Departs Albert Dock every day from 10.30amA Liverpool Dock Bus about to leave the Salthouse Dock and Enter Albert Dock

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Rochdale Town Hall is a Victorian-era municipal building in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, Eng-land. It is “widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country” and is rated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed build-ing. The Town Hall functions as the ceremonial headquarters of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and houses local government departments, including the borough’s civil registration office.

Built in the Gothic Revival style at a cost of £160,000 (£11 million as of 2012), it was inaugurated for the governance of the Municipal Borough of Roch-dale on 27 September 1871. The architect, William Henry Crossland, was the winner of a competition held in 1864 to design a new Town Hall. It had a 240-foot (73 m) clock tower topped by a wooden spire with a gilded statue of Saint George and the Drag-on, both of which were destroyed by fire on 10 April 1883, leav-ing the building with-out a spire for four years. A new 190-foot (58 m) stone clock tower and spire in the style of Manchester Town Hall was de-signed by Alfred Waterhouse, and erected in 1888.

Art critic Nikolaus Pevsner described the build-ing as possessing a “rare picturesque beauty”. Its stained glass windows are credited as “the finest modern examples of their kind”. The building came to the attention of Adolf Hitler, who was said to have admired it so much that he wished to ship the building, brick-by-brick, to Nazi Germany had the United Kingdom been defeated in the Second World War.

Rochdale had developed into an increasingly large, populous, and prosperous urban mill town since the Industrial Revolution. Its newly built rail and canal network, and numerous factories, resulted in the town being “remarkable for many wealthy mer-chants”.[9] In January 1856 the electorate of the Rochdale constituency petitioned the Privy Council

for the grant of a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, to constitute the town as a municipal borough. This would give it limited political autonomy via an elected town council, comprising a mayor, aldermen, and coun-cillors, to oversee local affairs. The petition was suc-cessful and the charter was granted in September 1856. The newly formed Rochdale Corporation—the local authority for the Municipal Borough of Rochdale—suggested plans to build a town hall in which to conduct its business in May 1858. The site of an abandoned 17th-century house known as The Wood was proposed. Six months later, in April 1860, Rochdale Corporation arranged to buy the site on the outskirts of the town centre for £4,730 (£358,000 as of 2012).However, plans were shelved due to lengthy negotiations and in-creasing land prices. In January 1864 the scheme re-sumed with a new budget of £20,000 (£1,340,000 as of 2012). The wood and surrounding area were cleared, but it is unknown what became of the dis-possessed; there was no legal requirement for the

authorities to rehouse the former inhabit-ants. A design compe-tition to find a “neat and elegant building” was held by the Roch-dale Corporation, who offered the winning architect a prize of £100 (£7,400 as of 2012), and a Maltese cross souvenir. From the 27 entries received, William Henry Cross-land’s was chosen. The Rochdale-born Radical and Liberal statesman

John Bright laid the foundation stone on 31 March 1866. Construction was complete by 1871 although the cost had, by then, increased beyond expecta-tions from the projected £40,000 to £160,000 (£11,040,000 as of 2012).

Although it is not fully understood how it came to his attention, Rochdale Town Hall was admired by Adolf Hitler. It has been suggested a visit by Hitler in 1912–13 while staying with his half-brother Alois Hitler, Jr. in Liverpool, or military intelligence on Rochdale, or information from Nazi sympathiser William Joyce (who had lived in Oldham), brought the building to his attention. Hitler admired the ar-chitecture so much that it is believed he wished to ship the building, brick-by-brick, to Nazi Germany had German-occupied Europe encompassed the United Kingdom. Rochdale was broadly avoided by German bombers during the Second World War.

BuIlT In THE GoTHIc rEVIVAl sTYlE AT A cosT oF £160,000. £11 MIllIon As oF

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William Brown Street in Liver-pool, England is a road that is remarkable for its concentration of public buildings. It is some-times referred to as the “Cultural Quarter”

Originally known as Shaw’s Brow, a coaching road east from the city, it is named after William Brown, a local MP and philan-thropist, who in 1860 donated land in the area for the building of a library and museum. This area gives its name as the William Brown Street conservation area.

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Manchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathe-dral’s official name is The Cathedral and Colle-giate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester. It has also variously been known locally as St Mary’s, Christ Church and, simply, t’owd church.

Although extensively refaced, restored and ex-tended in the Victorian period, and then again following severe bomb damage in the 20th cen-tury, the main body of the Cathedral largely derives from the wardenship of James Stanley (warden 1485–1506), and is in the Perpendicular Gothic style. Stanley was also primarily responsi-ble for commissioning the spectacular late medi-eval wooden furnishings, including the pulpitum, the choir stalls, and the nave roof supported by angels with gilded instruments. It is one of the Grade I listed buildings in Manchester.The Middle Ages

A church dedicated to St Mary is recorded in the Domesday Survey, although the only surviving evidence from this period is a small carving of an angel with a scroll, preserved in the Cathedral nave; the Old English inscription on the stone translates as “into thy hands, O Lord, I com-mend my spirit”. The Domesday Book entry for Manchester reads “the Church of St Mary and the Church of St Michael hold one carucate of land in Manchester exempt from all customary dues except tax”.

Construction of the predecessor church started in 1215 within the confines of the Baron’s Court beside the manor house on the site of Manches-ter Castle. The occupying lords of the manor were the Grelley family, and their coat of arms is still associated with the cathedral to this day. The Grelley family acted as stewards of the church, building and endowing the first chancery, the St. Nicholas Chancery.

In 1311, for lack of Grelley heirs, the estate passed by marriage to the de la Warre family. The 14th century west tower and eastern Lady Chapel of this building were to be incorporated into the current structure (although little or no fabric of that date is still visible). In 1349 the St. Nicholas Chancery was endowed by the de Traf-ford family. The involvement of the de la Warre family was furthered in 1382 when Thomas de la Warre, later to be appointed Baron of Manches-ter, became rector of the parish church.

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This gargantuan warehouse is on an un-equalled heroic scale and it dominates the landscape in this part of Liverpool.

It extends along the whole of the south front of Stanley Dock. It is 14 storeys high with 42 bays divided by seven loading bays and is said to be the largest warehouse in the world and the largest brick building in the world.

Its construction absorbed 27 million bricks, 30,000 panes of glass and 8,000 tons of steel. It could accommodate 70,000 hogsheads of tobacco (each weighing 1,000 lbs). It was designed by A.G. Lyster, the Dock Engi-neer, but Arthur Berrington, an architectural draughtsman in Lyster’s office, almost cer-tainly had a hand in the brick and terracotta detailing.

27,000,000 bricks, 30,000 windows and 8,000 tonnes of steel to build

this beauty

At high level on the west end in raised fig-ures and letters are “MDE, 1900” and “To-bacco Warehouse.” On the north (dock) side are a series of iron stairs.

On the south side there are a number of later bridges linking to the south Warehouse. The area between The Tobacco Warehouse and South Stanley Warehouse is known locally as “Pneumonia Alley” because it is almost always in shade and often acts as a wind tun-nel.

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Following the decline of the cultural Mad-chester movement in music in the early 1990s and then the 1996 bombing, the city had a chance to reinvent itself. Following the cities music fame, sport and architec-ture was at the heart of the new Manches-ter. Manchester has seen new, often tall buildings being built, many in a post-mod-ernist style incorporating a glass façade into their design. Arguably, the most well known building of this type came in the form of a skyscraper in 2006 – the 168m

Beetham Tower which was designed by ar-chitect, Ian Simpson. Other buildings to have incorporated glass into their design include Urbis, No. 1 Deansgate, Manches-ter Civil Justice Centre.

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Urbis (the name taken from Latin, meaning ‘of the city’) opened in 2002, initially as an exhi-bition centre of city life, with four floors of permanent exhibits, featuring cities around the globe from Singapore to Sao Paolo, Los An-geles to Paris. Born out of the legacy of the 1996 IRA bomb, Urbis was a product of the ambition Manchester had for its future devel-opment, acting as a key cultural destination at the Northern end of the city in the newly de-veloped Millennium Quarter.

Since then Urbis has undergone many changes. This started with a new exhibition programme focussing on popular, contemporary and urban culture; launched with the Peter Saville Show in 2004. This was complemented by learning and community activities, events, city tours, a cafe, shop and aswell as an award-winning bar and restaurant The Modern Bar & Restaurant.

Never comfortable being a labelled ‘a museum’, over six years Urbis developed a new way of exhibiting the world – immersing people in the experience of popular culture, which encour-aged visitors to see it, feel it, love it and live it.

Today this site remains a testament to its lega-cy; all it sought and succeeded in achieving. Architecture

Designed by the local firm Ian Simpson Archi-tects and built in 2002, Urbis was situated in Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, at the heart of Manchester’s redeveloped Millennium Quarter. Standing at 35 m high it replaced what was once a derelict car park and soon came to be recognised as one of Manchester’s most iconic buildings – standing as a symbol of regenera-tion within the city.

The design was chosen fol-lowing the results of an in-ternational competition or-ganised by Manchester City Council. Simpson’s design was chosen as it left room to create a surrounding green space, which became known as Cathedral Gardens.

Its striking feature is the unique glass façade, consisting of over 2,000 panes of glass and a curved roof constructed using pre-aged, em-erald coloured copper tiling, a signature of the style of Ian Simpson; complementing the col-our of the glass and sitting nicely with the sur-rounding historic public realm.

Urbis appears to change shape according to which angle it is approached from. Its 35 m peak (South elevation) slope, down to 6m (North elevation), leaving space for the sur-rounding historic buildings including Victoria Station, Chetham’s School of Music and Man-chester Cathedral.

Urbis still exists as a build-ing and houses its Shop, City Tours programme and The Modern Bar and Restaurant and RECLAIM programme, although this closed to the public on 27 February 2010. In 2011, Urbis will re-open as The National Football Museum, previously located at Preston.

urbis appears to change shape

according to which angle it is approached from

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Designed by Ian Simpson

The Beetham Tower was designed by Ian Simpson of the Beetham Organisation. Ian Simpson has designed a number of famous sky scrappers including the Urbis in Manchester and the Beetham Towers in Birmingham and London. Ian Simpson actually lives in the top floor penthouse which cost him £3m and occupies the the two top floors of the building. His Penthouse includes 21 trees which were shipped from Italy and put in the build-ing before the roof was built.

Quirky, bold and robust, Chips forms the first major development for the Alsop-designed masterplan for New Islington in Manchester, UK.

New Islington, Manchester’s Millennium Community, is situated between the Ashton and Rochdale canals on the Northern edge of Manchester City Centre. Launched in 2002, Alsop’s Strategic Framework for New Islington, lays out an exceptional place, mod-elled around new canal arms and an inspiring landscape.

Commissioned by Urban Splash in 2002, Chips presents the first new apartments for sale in New Islington was designed by Will Alsop whose building was inspired by three fat chips piled on top of one another. The building comprises three equal-height, long, thin new build masses (Chips) approximately 100m long by 14m wide stacked and stag-gered upon one another creating an elevated ground floor and eight levels comprising 142 one, two and three bedroom apartments.

The building is clad in a composite wall faced with a cladding covered in newspaper print with text that echoes the industrial heritage of the Ancoats area.

The design provides a mix of living and stu-dio units and commercial space within a sin-gle project. The project defines a quality of living by combining outstanding design with technological innovation while embracing key concepts of sustainability, integration into the urban landscape and the provision of inspirational and sensational apartment units.

The building’s apartment types range from studio spaces to three bed apartments. There is also a variety of differing external balco-nies. The apartments are planned internal-ly around a central ‘pod’ unit, housing the bathroom and kitchen areas. The apartments can be open plan or sub-divided by the use of large folding screens.

The scheme achieves a BREEAM Eco-Homes Excellent rating, conforms to the Manchester Methodist Housing Trust scheme’s stringent development standards and also meets the Sustainability guidelines as set out by the UK Homes and Communi-ties agency as apart of the ‘millennium com-munity’ programme.

It marks another significant milestone for New Islington, which will become even more of a community once the residents of Chips move into their apartments in 2009.

Awards:2010 RIBA Regional Award (North West)2010 Institution of Structural Engineers In-ternational Awards, Community or Residen-tial Structures, Commendation

new Islington, Manchester

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A 2,500 sq m health centre, completed mid 2010, has exemplary sustainability standards with a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating and a pro-jected energy consumption around a fifth of the accepted target performance for such buildings. Inspired by Passivhaus, it adopts high levels of insulation, triple glazed win-dows and a high standard of air-tightness well in excess of the regulation requirments, together with mechanical ventilation incor-porating high effciency heat recovery, all of which significantly reduces the heating re-quirement.

Thermal modelling of the scheme predicts a class leading energy requirement of only 6.76 GJ/100m3/annum compared with a target of 35 GJ, giving a carbon output of just 13.6 kgCO2/m2annum for an intesively used building. a totally electrical building, using air source heat pumps, it can benefit from the addition of renewable technolo-gies in the future, for example photo-voltaic panels, to further reduce its carbon output. The building thus demonstrates what can be achieved to combat climate change by a sig-nificant reduction in its carbon footprint. At the same time it brings a ral demonstration of what can be done, simulating discussion, debate and personal action by local residents who have affectionately dubbed the scheme ‘the Ark’.

Blue Bell Health centre, liverpool

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Halewood Centre for learning designed by Aedas is part of the ground breaking £150 million Knowsley Building Schools for the Future.

Opened in March 2009 this state of the art facility is one of seven new centres for learning aimed at wide scale local regenera-tion and community reengagement through education, and as such is exemplary of the de-sign vision and ethos of Knowsley. The centre moves away from the traditional school de-sign becomming a fully inclusive learning cen-tre for the community. Halewood CfL is a truly unique learning en-vironment, which promotes flexible and per-sonalised approaches to teaching and learn-ing.

The design of the centre focuses around a central atrium with homebases and specialist areas for science, sports and drama all flow-ing into it. The homebase is composed of fully flexible spaces which can be partitioned off by use of retractable walls and curtains to allow a variety of teaching and learning styles to be accomodated within one place, increasing the adaptability and inclusivity of the building’s use.

The concept of the ‘view’ is integral to the design of the building. A series of interior external spaces weave through the building offering easy access to the exterior in the form of terraces, balconies and courtyard.

Halewood Centre for learning designed by Aedas is part of the ground breaking £150 million Knowsley Building Schools for the Future.

Opened in March 2009 this state of the art facility is one of seven new centres for learn-ing aimed at wide scale local regeneration and community reengagement through edu-cation, and as such is exemplary of the de-sign vision and ethos of Knowsley. The cen-tre moves away from the traditional school design becomming a fully inclusive learning centre for the community. Halewood CfL is a truly unique learning environment, which

promotes flexible and personalised approach-es to teaching and learn-ing.

The design of the centre focuses around a central atrium with homebases and specialist areas for science, sports and dra-ma all flowing into it. The homebase is com-posed of fully flexible

spaces which can be partitioned off by use of retractable walls and curtains to allow a variety of teaching and learning styles to be accomodated within one place, increasing the adaptability and inclusivity of the build-ing’s use.

The concept of the ‘view’ is integral to the design of the building. A series of interior external spaces weave through the building offering easy access to the exterior in the form of terraces, balconies and courtyard.

HAlEwood cEnTrE For lEArnInG, lIVErPool

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The colours grow warmer towards the centre, moving from the purple exterior wall and orange balconies to the blue interior of the Lyric Thea-tre and the red interior of the Quays Theatre. At night, the building really comes into its own. The Tower and the canopy at the front are clad in perforated steel, and when these are illuminated from inside, the whole building glows.

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The Lowry, which opened at Salford Quays nine years ago at a cost to the public of £116m, is angry that the latest propos-als would see it lose two regular visitors that it regards as “jewels”: Opera North and Birmingham Royal Ballet.

However, today the chairman of the Low-ry trustees, Rod Aldridge, said the plan was “bad for Manchester, bad for the arts and bad for the taxpayer”. He added: “In the interests of the whole region, it must now be abandoned.” He said the Lowry had commissioned its own research to look at the ROH proposals and what it would mean for them. Aldridge said it “provides clear evidence that the current proposal presents significant threats to the viability of the Lowry. It would destroy what we have achieved and would put the £116m of public money invested at severe risk”.

The Lowry says it is not against the Royal Opera House coming to Manchester and has proposed an alternative model where-by opera and music is concentrated. The theatre, and the Lowry becomes the cen-tre for dance, hosting the Royal Ballet.

In the months of meetings that have gone on since the idea emerged last year, three alternatives were put to the Lowry on its possible future. These included concen-trating on more musicals; producing its own original work; or reinventing itself as a Sadlers’ Wells of the north by stag-ing more non-classical dance. The Lowry insists none of these are viable.

The Lowry’s chief executive, Julia Fawc-ett, said the centre had always made clear that it was in favour of the ROH being in Manchester, but not at its expense. “At the moment there is no upside for us, just a huge risk,” she said.

The Manchester plans, conceived and driven by the ROH – under its chief ex-ecutive Tony Hall – and the city council, are undeniably ambitious. It would see the city’s 117-year-old Palace theatre renovat-ed and transformed into a new base for the ROH outside Covent Garden. As well as staging opera and ballet productions, it would host works developed specifically for Manchester.

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All SAintS PrimAry School, BrAdford

All Saints Primary School was a commission from Bradford Council to develop a new 2 form entry (420 place primary and a 60 piece nursery); upon a new site adjacent to existing “live” school on land formely belonging to St Luke’s Hospital.

This new build school is a two storey build-ing compromising 12 classrooms, 2 recep-tion classes and nursery, with 2 school halls, kitchen, library, IT and admin areas. The classrooms are arranged around an atrium, which is used for access and ventilation, and there is also a green roof for occassional external teaching. Work commenced upon site in January 2008, and was completed in March 2009. Delivering a radically planned Primary School with Nursery, located with the circular drum located at the end of the main school wing.

Internally the plan provides an open inter-nal “street” within the school, allowing light to penetrate the depth of the building while providing visual connection between teach-ing, learning and communication facilities.

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ArchitectRobinson Design Ltd1-2 Merchant’s QuayAshley LaneShipleyBD17 7DBt 01274 532 500f 01274 534 000

ContactSheila Lynes

ClientBradford City Council

Main ContractorISG

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Alan turing Building,

The £43m building was completed in July 2007, and was designed by architects Sheppard Robson. It consists of three “fingers”, each of which are four stories high. The building is of steel frame con-struction, with reinforced concrete stair wells, and grey zinc exterior cladding.

The northern two fingers are joined by an atrium, which is spanned by a series of bridges. The southernmost finger was de-signed to hold low vibration laboratories, and is joined by a glazed bridge at third floor level to the middle finger.

An ‘over-sailing’ roof structure connects the three fingers acting as a suspension system for a photovoltaic array/solar shading using thin film technology. This photovoltaic array is designed to produce nearly 41 megawatt hours per annum, a saving of 17,000 kilograms of carbon di-oxide each year. At the time of comple-tion this was the largest photovoltaic array in North West England, and helped the architects to win an award for “Business Commitment to the Environment”.

One condition for planning approval was that the project included corridors for pe-destrian access and visual transparency between Upper Brook Street and Oxford Road. This was to counter complaints by the residents of Brunswick, on the other side of Upper Brook Street, that previous university developments seemed to be cre-ating a wall to them. The pedestrian walk-way between the second and third finger, and the transparent atrium met these de-mands. This follows the line of an earlier street, when the site was a residential area, and when reopened will run from Upper Brook Street to Oxford Road and is called “Wilton Street”, as it was historically. The roof structure was also required by the planning authorities so that the develop-ment is regarded as one building. The atri-um looking down from the 3rd floor

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In the 1960s many mathematics depart-ments were housed in high-rise buildings including the Mathematics Tower at the Victoria University of Manchester, and the Maths and Social Sciences Building at UMIST. These proved completely un-suited to the activities of a mathematics department (and arguably any academic department) as travel between floors in lifts (and uninviting stairways) discourages interaction between mathematicians re-sulting from chance encounter. Buildings such as the Mathematics Institute at War-wick (at East Site and later the Zeeman Building) and the Isaac Newton Institute at Cambridge are deliberately low-rise and designed to encourage chance encounter.[citation needed] The Alan Turing Build-ing was designed with substantial input from the mathematicians[citation need-ed] and the design reflects this including a large open plan common room on the atrium bridge, open corridors and walk-ways and the relocation of the best tradi-tional blackboards from the old buildings.

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No.1 Deansgate occupies part of the rede-veloped Shambles Square in Manchester City Centre. The scheme comprises 14 storeys of steel framed residential superstructure. Long span composite concrete decking is supported by a grillage of 3 metre high steel trusses bearing onto a raking column trans-fer arrangement.

The steelwork at the base of the columns is cast into a reinforced concrete substructure of five levels, which transfers the superstruc-ture loads and acts to restrain the retaining wall around the perimeter of the site. The substructure has two levels of car park, two levels of retail and a podium acting as an en-trance for the residential floor areas above.

The project was completed on site in spring 2002 and has won several awards including the Commendation for Most Innovative Project in the IStructE North West Regional Structural Awards 2003, a RIBA Award 2003 and a Civic Trust Award 2004.

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The new ISS building at Lancaster Univer-sity has been developed to accommodate the Information Systems Services depart-ment which is responsible for the Univer-sity IT infrastructure. The department also has a commercial outreach function to the Lancashire Community at large including in-ternet provision to Lancashire and Cumbria schools.

The striking building design is immediately recognisable and appropriately reinforces the Lancaster University brand in this promi-nent campus location. The attractive accom-modation achieves a step change in quality required to maintain and attract high calibre staff. At the building’s core are environmen-tally controlled server suites, surrounded by support offices where the use of natural light and ventillation is maximised through the use of a light shaft which surrounds the main computer block.

To address the brief requirement to provide flexibility and possible expan-sion, the design solution groups the machine rooms together in one block in dependant of the office areas. This makes it possible to respond to chang-ing data centre needs by extending this block westwards without affect-ing the offices or the integrity of the architecture. Raised floors are used throughout the building. These act as a plenum for the distribution routes, maximising flexibility whilst minimis-ing disruption during reconfiguration.

The building achieved a BREEAM Excellent post completion rating.

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information System Services (iSS) Building

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Paradise Street Bridge

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liverpool Science ParkLiverpool Science Park, launched in 2006, is currently the second fastest growing science park in the UK, second only to Cambridge Science Park. The Park was created to de-velop and support Liverpool’s Commercial Knowledge Economy and has proved a huge success to date. It provides the ideal home for developing science and knowledge based companies through the provision of: Flex-ible, bespoke fit-for-purpose accommoda-tion Versatile leasing arrangements Special-ist business support Life Science laboratory compatible accommodation Links to the region’s specialist experts Access to the aca-demic research base Located in Liverpool City Centre, in the heart of the Knowledge Quarter, at the foot of the steps of the Met-ropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool Science Park currently comprises two buildings, Innova-tion Centre 1 (ic1) and Innovation Centre 2 (ic2) offering 80,000 sq ft of high-speci-fication grade A accommodation. The Park operates a gateway policy to ensure it targets and supports companies within the Knowl-edge Economy. Its occupants span a wide range of exciting knowledge-based sectors including the creative industries, pharmaceu-ticals, life sciences, ICT, software develop-ment and genetics - all on the cutting edge of new technology.

The unique facility is not only retaining home grown talent, but is attracting com-panies from outside the region and abroad, from as far afield as Finland and Canada. Liverpool Science Park is an award-winning centre, which has twice collected the “Best Science Based Incubator” award at the In-ternational Annual Incubator Conference & Awards. It is estimated that with the develop-ment of further phases, the Park could sup-port as many as 7,000 local jobs within the next ten years. The Liverpool Science Park is a joint venture between Liverpool City Council, John Moores University and the University of Liverpool and is part financed by the European Union under Merseyside’s Objective One ERDF programme, and the North West Regional Development Agency.

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A 2004 local area review of post-16 education in Roch-dale concluded that the Borough would greatly benefit from the establishment of a Sixth Form College to pre-vent a ‘brain drain’ to institutions outside the Borough. This in turn led to the Learning and Skills Council insti-gating a competition in 2006/07 for the establishment of a new Institution.

Building upon strategic work already undertaken with education providers in the area, Seven were appointed by the preferred consortium, Rochdale Education Part-nership, and the Learning and Skills Council to under-take detailed curriculum modeling exercises and pre-pare proposals for the first new Sixth Form College to be established in England since Longley Park in 2004.

Working closely with the LSC, Rochdale Local Educa-tion Authority and Hopwood Hall College, Seven as-sisted in reviewing siting, phasing and capacity studies for the 1,000 place new college, resulting in a preferred location on the banks of the River Roch just outside Rochdale Town Centre, forming a focused Learning Quarter with the adjacent Hopwood Hall College. It’s location offers significant presence on the townscape and forms an important ‘gateway’ into Rochdale from the south.

In formulating the scheme brief and subsequent design, Seven instigated a wide ranging consultation exercise in-tegrating input from, among others, the LEA, the Sixth Form Colleges Forum, the Environment Agency and the Local Authority and joined the multiple client bod-ies on visits to Colleges across the country to learn from best practice.

The £19m, 6 storey building provides over 8,000m2 of general and specialist accommodation including a state-of-the-art science lab suite, a 160 seat theatre, dance and drama studios, art studios and media labs and a wide variety of flexible, teaching and learning environments, all supported by the latest in collaborative technology.

rochdale Sixth form college

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Rochdale Sixth Form College is a sixth form college opened in September 2010 under the Building Schools for the Fu-ture program. The sixth form college campus is situated next to Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale, Greater Manches-ter, England, forming a further education quarter in the town. Rochdale is the first sixth form college to be opened in the UK since 2004, and the 94th sixth form college in the country.

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Liverpool University Laboratory

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London-based architectural firm Moxon has submitted a planning application for a striking new 40,000 sq ft office building north of Preston.

The design uses a series of anodized alu-minium fins suspended from tensile rods on all four faces of the building.

Moxon won a RIBA competition last year to design the office for an unnamed Jer-sey-based developer.

Subject to planning, the landmark office will occupy an acre next to a roundabout at the corner of Oliver’s Place and East-way, close to J32 of the M6 and J1 of the M55, north of Preston.

Ben Addy of Moxon said: “The alumin-ium fins, or reeds, are all oriented in the same direction. On the South West facade they act as a large-scale brise soleil and rain screen, but appear more vis-ually permeable on the SE facade. Early morning and winter sun-

Liverpool University Laboratory

light is able to enter the building while high summer sun is excluded and so does not adversely alter the environmental con-ditions within the building. The reeds also appear as a thicket of material that gives the building a striking appearance that changes dramatically depending on the position of the viewer.

“The roundabout and the three dimen-sional nature of the cladding system com-bine to create animation as one moves towards the building obliquely along the approach roads. By turns the building ap-pears solid and then transparent depend-ing on the viewers position: it reveals the interior as one moves around it.”

The RIBA judges included Nick John-son of Urban Splash and architects Ian Simpson and Nazar Sayigh. The judges said the Moxon scheme was a “potentially

unique design that offered good simple spaces, intriguing views out, and an ex-traordinary qual-ity of light.”

the design uses a series of anodized aluminium fins suspended from tensile rods

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Listings

north West

BlackBurn

BLackBurn technicaL schooLFeiLden streetBLackBurnBB2 1Lht: 01254 292929

Blackpool

st john’s c.e. Primary schooLarchitect: aedas architects LtdParsonage chamBersdaWson Lane, BierLey, BradFord Bd4 6jFt: 01274 681959

Bradford

aLL saints Primary schooLarchitect:roBinson design Ltd1-2 merchant’s quayashLey LaneshiPLeyBd17 7dBt: 01274 532 500

chester

29-31 LoWer Bridge street city centrechester ch1 1rst: 01244 318100

oldham

chadderton WeLLBeing centreBLue sky architectsBuiLding 1000kings reachyeW streetstockPortsk4 2hgt: 0161 475 0220F: 0161 475 1748

manchester

aLan turning BuiLdingthe university oF man-cheste, oxFord roadmanchester m13 9PL

cis toWermiLLer streetmanchesterLancashire m60 0aLt: 0161 832 8686

manchester cathedraLexchange station aPProachvictoria streetmanchester m3 1sxt: 0161 833 2220

mosi great Western Ware-housearchitect:Buttress FuLLer aLsoP WiL-Liams31-33 Princes streetmanchesterm2 4BFt: 0161 236 3303F: 0161 236 3603

neW isLingtontimBer WharF16-22 WorsLey streetcastLeFieLdmanchesterm15 4Ldt: 0333 666 9999F: 0161 839 8999

no1deansgate1 centraL streetcity centremanchester m2 5Wrt: 0161 211 9000

PeoPLe’s history museumarchitect:austin-smith:Lord LLPPort oF LiverPooL BuiLdingPier headLiverPooLL3 1Byt: 0151 227 1083F: 0151 258 1685

travis street suBstationarchitect:WaLker simPsonarchitects Ltd33 PiccadiLLy manchesterm1 1Lqt: 0161 228 7406F: 0161 228 7406

the Beetham toWer303 deansgatemanchester m3 4Lqt: 0161 870 1688

urBismanchestert: 0161 605 8200

victoria Bathshathersage roadmanchesterm13 0Fet: 0161 224 2020

victoria stationmanchestergreater manchester m3 1Wyunited kingdom

merseyside

merseyside Primary schooLharthiLL roadaLLerton, LiverPooL L18 3hst: 0151 724 2087

morecamBe

the midLand hoteLmarine road West, more-camBe, Lancashire La4 4Bu0845 850 1240

oldham

WeLLBeing centreBurnLey stchaddertonoLdham oL9 0jW0161 770 5656

Modern A

rchitecture

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lancaster

inFormation systems ser-vices,iss BuiLding,Lancaster university,Lancaster La1 4WateL: 01524 510190Fax: 01524 510530

liverpool

aLBert docksunit 22aLBert dockLiverPooLmerseyside L3 4aF0151 708 7334

BLue BeLL heaLth centrearchitect:jm architects9a st james’ BuiLding79 oxFord streetmanchesterm1 6Fqt: 0161 200 6300F: 0161 200 6301

c-rmz Widnesarchitect:austin smith:Lord LLPPort oF LiverPooL BuiLdingPier headLiverPooLL3 1Byt: 0151 227 1083F: 0151 258 1685

haLeWood centre For Learningarchitect:aedas architects LtdParsonage chamBers3 the Parsonagemanchesterm3 2hW0161 828 7900

Lime street gateWayLime streetLiverPooL0845 711 4141

LiverPooL science Park131 mount PLeasantLiverPooL L3 5tF0151 705 3400

LiverPooL university LaBo-ratoryrankin haLLeLmsWood roadLiverPooL L18 8dnt: 0151 794 6451

LiverPooL toWerFLoor 11the PLaza100 oLd haLL streetLiverPooLmerseyside L3 9qj

Paradise street Bridge7a croxteth rdLiverPooL L8 3se0151 727 2140

Park BroWLa casitaacreFieLd roadLiverPooLmerseyside L32 6qh0151 477 8540

royaL Liver BuiLdingPier headLiverPooL Ls 1ht0151 236 2748

the Beetham toWer111 oLd haLL streetL3 9Bd0151 426 9100

the gargantuan WarehouseLiverPooL angLican cathe-draLst james mountLiverPooL L1 7az0151 709 6271

tom reiLLy BuiLdingarchitect:austin-smith:Lord LLPPort oF LiverPooL BuiLdingPier headLiverPooLL3 1By0151 227 10830151 258 1685

WiLLiam BroWn LiBraryhorseshoe gaLLeryWorLd museumWiLLiam BroWn streetLiverPooLmerseyside L3 8en0151 233 5835

preston

hedgehog oFFiceoLivers PLacePrestonLancashireengLand

rochdale

sixth Form coLLege, roch-daLe6hycoLLege roadrochdaLe oL12 601706 769800

toWn haLLthe esPLanadetoWn centrerochdaLeoL16 1aB01706 924775

salford

the LoWry centrePier 8saLFord quays m50 3azt: 0843 208 6000

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achieving design excellence in the northwest of england.

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