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Modernists at the Zine Fair

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mod mag in print - graham congreve

Zine Fair

Thursday 31 January

5-8.45pm

Meet The Manchester Modernists and check out The Modernist magazine…

‘For the first time ever Manchester Art Gallery is hosting a zine fair with stalls around the ground floor of the Gallery, selling self-published magazines and fanzines, small press books, comics, hand-made prints, poetry, and limited run vinyl records.

In an extra busy evening at the Gallery, Dave Haslam will help launch a new publication as an accompaniment and response to themes arising from our current exhibition Dreams Without Frontiers in the Manchester Gallery. There will be speeches & readings at 6.45pm. Just turn up and enjoy the events/fair/launch’

Manchester Art Gallery – Mosely Street, Manchester, M2 3JL



Metro Modern – mapping Modernist Manchester

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docksFree discovery tours – and map plotting! 

Manchester Modernist Society have always loved a good map, and we’ve long wanted to produce a map of the fabulous modernist heritage of the City. We are now pleased to say that, with a bit of help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are about to embark on a plan to map our very favourite city centre buildings and produce some real – yes, real – paper maps to help people explore the twentieth century heritage of Manchester and Salford.

To make things easier for those of you who might want a little rest along the way, we are going to more or less follow the routes of the three free to use Metro Shuttle Buses  that wind their way through central Manchester – so, whilst discovering the city, you will be able to hop on and off to your heart’s content.

Before we start drawing our maps, we need your help!

Manchester Modernist Society would like to invite you to join us on one of six discovery tours, where we will discover and share the story of social progress, scientific achievement, commercial development and cultural and religious change. From the early Paramount Cinema to the UK’s first purpose-built TV Studios (Granada); from the Scandinavian modernism of Oxford Rd Station to the brutal intrusion of the Mancunian Way; from the Manchester Polytechnic to the scientific achievements at UMIST; from the International style of the CIS tower to an erotic Cinema on Oxford Road, there is a fascinating wealth and variety of history that should be identified, explored and celebrated.. and we want you to share your knowledge, stories and information with us.

So, please join our guide and expert on Manchester Modernism – Mr. Eddy Rhead on one (or both) of our first two walks …

Tours – and map plotting!

Saturday 23rd Feb – Route 1 (including Gateway House, the Midland Bank, Piccadilly Plaza & Granada TV) Free to attend – reserve your place by clicking here. (n.b. starts outside Piccadilly Station – 11am Saturday 23rd February.)

Sunday 24th Feb – Route 2 (including Oxford Road Station, the Crown Courts, the CIS Tower and National Computing Centre) reserve your place by clicking here. (n.b. starts outside Oxford Road Station – 11am Sunday 24th February.)

N.B. As ever, the walks take place in the open air and good weather cannot be guaranteed; please dress accordingly and be prepared for a walking session which will take around three hours.

Places are limited, but don’t worry if you miss out this time – each of the three walks will be given twice.

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Margaret Newbold’s Manchester of the ’60s and ’70s

The making of post-war Manchester 1945-74: Plans and projects

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Our chums at Manchester School of Architecture bring to you this exciting event…

The making of post-war Manchester 1945-74: Plans and projects

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A free one-day symposium

A free one-day symposium of talks on post-war urban transformations in Manchester. The aim is narrate the changing social and physical development of the city during three crucial decades from 1945. The presentations will consider events, such as ‘smokeless zones’, the building of the first computer, and large scale built projects of the era, including Mancunian Way and the University expansion, in relation to civic plans, infrastructural initiatives, local and national government policies, technological innovation and the wider fiscal climate.

Click here for full information and registration.


Manchester Print Fair

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We’ll be showing off the latest issue of our magazine at the Manchester Print Fair on Saturday 13th of April 2013. The modernist magazine has now reached issue #7.

The Manchester Print fair was started in 2011 by designer Alessandra Mostyn from a belief that the city could benefit from an all-round creative event which celebrated print design in all its forms, creating a community of creative practitioners.

Come along to meet us and a host of talented print-makers, publishers and graphic designers.

The Manchester Print Fair

mcr print fair


Good news! St Jude’s church, Wigan,has been listed grade II

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St Jude’s Roman Catholic Church, Poolstock Lane/St Paul’s Avenue, Wigan – Awarded Listed Building Status

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‘St Jude’s was built in 1964-5 to designs by L A G Prichard & Son to serve a major new housing development. It is designed in a modern manner in the form of an isosceles triangle meaning that the church is broader than deep. Although traitional rectangular plans were still being built, much innovative post-war church architecture explored the provision of unified worship space, in particular plans which placed the Eucharist spatially as well as spiritually at the centre of worship, as encouraged by the Liturgical Movement.’ (EH Listings Report)

It ‘s a modernist gem with walls of dalles-de-verre glass: like a glowing jewel box. They were designed by Robin Riley of Liverpool. The C20 Society and the Manchester Modernist Society haven’t visited the church (on the way to Leigh) but it sounds like a possible future candidate? It always seems to be closed, though, whenever I’ve been!

For stained glass fanciers this is a dalle-de-verre treasure.

Aidan Turner-Bishop

st-jude-01  st-jude-02

(photos Richard Brook)


Metro Modern – snapping Modernist Manchester

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And so, our six mapping discovery walks are now completed. Around ninety hardy soles joined our expert guide Eddy Rhead, often in Arctic conditions, to re-discover our twentieth century city. Part two is now under way in which we will be designing our printed map of Modernist Manchester which we will launch during RIBA’s LoveArchitecture Festival in June 2013.

Call out for images

highland1

Alongside the map we are busy revamping our clunky old website so we can feature all the buildings that we have discovered during our walks.. but here’s the rub… we need your help again!

We’d like to include images of all the buildings on our list and we know how many super photographers have been snapping the twentieth century city over the years.

We’d like to include some of your photos on our website!

How to contribute:

  • Send your images headed PHOTOS to gallery[at]manchestermodernistsociety.org
  • Please include the name of the photographer and building.
  • Please ensure that you hold all rights to publish the image.
  • (if possible please format you photos for web use – no more than 600 pixels wide)
  • We will only be able to include around three images per building and so can’t guarantee that your pictures will be included.
  • N.B. the photographer will be credited and all copyright and ownership of the images will remain the that of the photographer.

We thank you

the manchester modernists

Do you have images of these buildings?

ABC Television House

Albert Bridge House

Aldine House

Arndale Bridge

Arndale Centre

Arthur House

Bank of England Northern HQ

Bentley House Estate

Bridgewater Hall

Cenotaph

Central Reference Library

Central Synagogue

Courts of Justice

Courts of Justice extension

CWS Building

Daily Express Building

Employment Exchange

Fac51 – The Hacienda

Gateway House

G-Mex Footbridge

Granada TV Centre

Guardian Tunnel

Highland House

Hollings

K6 Telephone Kiosk

Kendal Milne

Leach Rhodes Walker Offices

Lee House

Mancunian Way

Midland Bank

MMU Aytoun Building

National Westminster Bank

National Computing Centre

New Century House & CIS Tower

Oxford Road Station

Pall Mall Court

Paramount Cinema

Peter House

Piccadilly Hotel Ramp

Piccadilly Plaza Complex

Quay House

Renaissance Hotel

Renold Building

Ridgefield House

Rodwell House

Roscoe Building

Royal Exchange Theatre

St Andrews House

St Augustines RC Church

Scottish Life House

St Andrews House

Sunlight House

Tatler News Cinema

Telephone House

Trinity Bridge

Town Hall Extension

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Twentieth Century Society North West Group walk around central Stockport

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On Saturday, May 11, Matthew Schofield will lead a Twentieth Century Society North West Group walk around central Stockport

stockport-precinct

Stockport – “so good they named it once” according to the radio comedy show – tends to be overlooked, next to its big neighbour Manchester, 7 miles to the north. Yet there are a lot of good sites to be truffled for. Matthew will lead us to Brumwell Thomas’s Town Hall – he was the architect of Belfast City Hall; J T Halliday’s War Memorial Art Gallery (1923-5) with Gilbert Ledward’s remarkable Britannia; Merseyway Shopping Centre (Bernard Engle & Partners, 1968) built directly above the River Mersey; murals by Alan Boyson; and ending up at the splendidly restored and now very thriving Plaza cinema (W Thornley, 1929-33) where we hope to possibly enjoy tea in the restored art deco cafe. We’ll see other sites on our walk but you’ll have to come to find out what they are [I believe this is called tease marketing.] Clue: where was the police headquarters filmed in TV’sLife on Mars series?

There may be time for fashionstas to visit the very good free Hat Works Museum of hats and hatting:

We start at 10.30 near the booking hall of Stockport rail station. This is at Grand Central Way SK3 9HZ. There isn’t a Virgin Trains car park attached to the station but there is a car park next door at the leisure centre. See details.

Stockport is very well and frequently connected to Manchester Piccadilly by trains. There is a direct East Midlands train service from Liverpool Lime Street, leaving at 8.52 arriving at 9.53. From London Euston the Virgin Trains service arrives at Stockport at 1016. It’s wise to check if there are any weekend track ’improvements’ at work. The 192 Stagecoach bus service from Piccadilly, Manchester city centre is frequent. Stockport is hilly with steps and ginnels, famously painted by Lowry, so sensible footwear is wise. 

The charge is £5 (£4 concessions) with notes [16 pages]. Tea at the Plaza may be more but we’ll let you know once we’ve arranged something.

To book you can just turn up or let me know at aidantb@phonecoop.coop or at 01772-824154. If you are thinking of coming I’d appreciate knowing please since we have to reserve a table at the very popular cafe in the Plaza cinema.

Aidan Turner Bishop – C20 Society NW Group



LISTED POST-WAR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS REVISITED

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LISTED POST-WAR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS RE-VISITED 

From lobbies to boardrooms – English Heritage reviews list descriptions of 28 buildings in pilot project giving owners more clarity in managing change

Pilks

English Heritage has today announced the outcomes of a pilot project to review list descriptions of building types that undergo frequent change. The revisions to 28 post-war commercial offices have better identified the special interest in these buildings, which in many cases are the exterior and internally limited to spaces such as lobbies and board rooms. When other parts of the building, such as basements and working floors are not of interest, this is said explicitly, thereby giving owners greater flexibility and clarity in the process of consents and management of change.

The project was in response to the Penfold Review and has culminated as the Enterprise and Regulatory Bill has gained Royal Assent. The new Act incorporates many changes recommended in the Penfold Review, bringing positive changes to the heritage protection system with clearer and faster decisions, and more efficient systems to facilitate growth. Listing is also playing its part in this.

The revised List entries will also facilitate the development of Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreements between the owner and the local authority. This approach to listing was set out in the listing of the Lloyds Building in December 2011 and can reduce the amount of listed building consent applications the owner needs to make.

As part of the project, the Time and Life Building (1953), London, has been upgraded to Grade II* in recognition of the high level of design and high quality art, including two commissions by Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson reliefs and Geoffrey Clarke sculpture integrated into the building. The interiors of the building were designed by Sir Hugh Casson, director of architecture at the Festival of Britain.

Bracken House (1955, London), the former headquarters of the Financial Times, was the first post-war building to be listed in 1987. This late example of modern classicism has since undergone significant change since listing, as the central printing house was rebuilt in 1988-91 for the new owners by Michael Hopkins and Partners. It was cleverly knitted into the wider building and is of such quality that it has been given a special mention within the Grade II* listing.

The former Pilkington Headquarters complex (1959, St Helen’s) was listed at Grade II in 1995 as one of the best and earliest greenfield headquarters complexes in England. The revised List entry now includes the previously unlisted gatehouse, former chauffeur’s house, and car port as key original components of the complex. The north lake surrounds and concrete bridge, which were previously listed separately at Grade II, are now incorporated into the new single list entry for the site. The landscape has been added onto The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II for its strong design interest, one of only a small number of registered post-war landscapes.

Other notable facts added to the list entries include:

New Century House (1959-63, Manchester): one of the first commercial buildings in England to be air conditioned, as was the CIS building. Includes sculptured artworks by Stephen Sykes & John McCarthy (McCarthy also has a specifically listed artwork at the Birds Eye building).

The Rotunda (1960-65, Birmingham): considered unique in Britain to find an office building in such a simple form, its setting “forming a climax to the entry to the city”. Significant artworks identified in the list entry include the full height ciment-fondu mural by John Poole.

The Willis Building (1970-75, Ipswich): Sir Norman Foster’s first large scale commission and hailed internationally for its striking design and sensitive, innovative use of curvilinear glass curtain walling and the first use of escalators in an office building in Britain. It was listed Grade I in 1991.

New Zealand House (1959-63, Westminster): an elegant tower and podium composition, it has significance as the first major office tower in central London, the first to be fully air conditioned and the first to be fully glazed on all sides. It also includes specifically listed artwork: the sculptor Inia te Wiata’s life sized tribal figures of Maoris.

Liz Peace, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation which was consulted on the project, said: “The passage of theEnterprise and Regulatory Reform Act will bring many benefits for all those involved with listed buildings as for the first time the extent of the listing will be legally defined. This will make it much easier to identify and protect those parts of a listed building which make it special whilst, where appropriate, allowing changes to take place to less significant parts of the building that may be needed to keep it in use and so safeguard its future.

“The problem is that most listed buildings currently have listings which provide only the sketchiest information about what makes them special. Updating those listings will be a massive job and we are delighted with the success of English Heritage’s initial pilot to provide more detailed listings for modern office buildings. We look forward to working with English Heritage to build on this solid start and explore which other buildings should be fast tracked for more detailed listing.”

Emily Gee, Head of Designation at English Heritage, said: “This project has helped shape our designation response to the government’s better regulation agenda and provided what we hope are useful improvements for the owners of these special working offices. English Heritage is committed to applying appropriate levels of protection and providing clarity, while also celebrating the very best of post-war commercial architecture.”

The 28 buildings that have enhanced list descriptions are:

Pilkington Glassworks Head Offices, St Helen’s

Pall Mall Court, Manchester

New Century House, Manchester

CIS Building, Manchester

Barclay’s Bank, Plymouth

Royal Bank of Scotland (formerly National Provincial Bank), Plymouth

Grosvenor House, Birmingham

Offices for Carr & Co, Birmingham (Goldfinger House)

Rotunda, Birmingham

WD & HO Wills HQ, Bristol

The Willis Building, Ipswich

Boots D90 HQ, Nottingham

Bird’s Eye, Walton on Thames, Surrey

Bracken House, Cannon Street, City of London

Former offices of YRM, Greystoke Place, City of London

Clareville House, Panton Street, Westminster

Sanderson House, Berners Street, Westminster

Economist Building, Westminster

Knickerbox, 219 Oxford Street, Westminster

Time and Life Building, New Bond Street, Westminster

45-46 Albemarle Street, Westminster

100 Pall Mall, Westminster

New Zealand House, Haymarket, Westminster

Millbank Tower, Westminster

41 Albemarle Street, Westminster

Centrepoint, Charing Cross Road, Camden

Sekers, 190 Sloane Street, Kensington & Chelsea

Heinz admin & research Labs at Heinz UK Headquarters, Hillingdon

The list descriptions can be found on the National Heritage List for England at www.english-heritage.org.uk/list.

Looking ahead, English Heritage will prioritise revisions of complex buildings and sites where the new approach would have a positive impact on management. It is also undertaking a project on architectural developments in commercial offices built between 1964 and 1984, the exemplars of which will be considered for listing later this year, and a contextual report published.

English Heritage press office 


manchester modernists at the movies

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The Changing Face of the North West: Modernist Dreams and Utopias

The Manchester Modernist Society, the North West Film Archive and Manchester Metropolitan University Geography are pleased to bring to the City Art Gallery a curated programme of archive films charting the transformation of the North West landscape through the aspirations of 20th Century dreamers, citizens and planners.

Every third Thursday of the month we will present a film screening from 6.30 pm in the City Art Gallery Lecture Theatre on Mosley Street, central Manchester. A specialist presenter will introduce each screening, followed by informal questions and answers. Each event is free, but pre-registration is essential as places are strictly limited. Refreshments will be available for purchase in the cafe.

Housing and Mass Redevelopment

housingphoto

16th May 2013: 6.30pm until 8.15pm

Free tickets here

The North West Film Archive and the Manchester Modernist Society, in conjunction with Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University, present five films about housing redevelopment and its impact on local communities in the post-war period.  The full programme will be:

6.30 Introduction by Eddy Rhead (The Manchester Modernist Society)

6.45 Film presentation:

  1. Homes for Workers (1939) – documenting “slum” clearance in Liverpool and outlining new housing plans for the city
  2. Late Hope Street (1968) - An ‘Impressionistic’ look at the final weeks of demolition of several rows of terraced houses in the Bradford area of Manchester
  3. Unit by Unit (1964) - documenting the construction of system built housing in Liverpool by the Unit Construction Company
  4. Murals for Manchester (1966) - a film depicting the sculptural work of Brian Lee, showing the installation of a concrete mural in Longsight, Manchester
  5. A Practical Faith (1980) – a poignant documentary about the work of Reverend Mike Taylor in Hulme, Manchester.

8.00 Questions and answers

8.15 close

Guests should arrive from 6pm for a prompt start at 6.30pm in the lecture theatre. The event will finish at approximately 8.15pm.

Come early and get a drink or snack from the Gallery Cafe, to enjoy during the film showing.

Free tickets here

Our final film will be Tom Cordell’s excellent Utopia London to be introduced by Tom Cordell himself.  Booking will be essential.

Manchester on the Move

inframanc

18th April 2013

The evening will be introduced by Richard Brook (Manchester School of Architecture), who co-organised the well-received Infra_Manc Exhibition at Cube in 2012.  There will also be an opportunity for questions and answers afterwards.

Guests should arrive from 6pm for a prompt start at 6.30pm in the lecture theatre. The event will finish at approximately 8.15pm.

Come early and get a drink or snack from the Gallery Cafe, to enjoy during the film showing.

Free tickets here

bata-ville

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Bata-ville : We are not afraid of the future

14th March 2013 

Written & directed by Northern Art Prize Winners Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope, Bata-ville (90mins) is a bittersweet record of an English coach trip to the origins of the Bata shoe empire – the Moravian town of Zlin – a place described by Le Corbusier as a “shiny phenomenon”. Against the backdrop of economic regeneration in their communities, former employees of two now closed UK Bata factories are led by artist / directors Pope & Guthrie on a unique journey through Bata’s legacy and across a changing Europe.   What begins as a free holiday soon becomes an opportunity for a collective imagining of what Tomas Bata’s inspirational maxim, “We are not afraid of the future” can mean in 21st century Britain.

Free tickets here


Mural For Ringway Airport: A Work By Brian Lee

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Today, passengers arriving at Manchester International Airport’s Terminal 1 will most likely do so by car, approaching the terminal via the elevated approach road into the adjacent multi-storey car park. However, for the jet-setters of the 1960’s the experience would have been a very different one.

Opening in October 1962, Ringway Airport was designed by Manchester’s City Architect Leonard Cecil Howitt with interiors by James Cubitt and Partners[1] and replaced an earlier scheme by the previous City Architect George Noel Hill[2]; not until 1975 was the moniker Manchester International Airport officially adopted[3].

Ringway1

From inception, the building was designed for ‘extensibility and flexibility’; a lightweight steel frame supported the extensively glazed elevations whilst prefabricated partitions were used internally[4].

Arriving by car, passengers could park at ground level in front of the terminal building before proceeding to check-in on foot. Those passengers of curious minds may have briefly glanced upwards and wondered about the strange abstract forms above the main entrance and their meaning.

Certainly, the 13-foot square design of ‘jumbled triangles’ had puzzled airport staff with senior airport officials admitting they also did not know what they meant[5].

Perhaps conscious of earlier controversies regarding excessive expenditure by Manchester Corporation on ‘futuristic money-wasting ideas’[6], the work had been undertaken by an in-house member of the City Architects’ Department, Brian Lee.

The abstract design on precast concrete panels utilised ‘classical principles of sculpture’ and was ‘based on the human face’[7]. It would later feature in the documentary film Murals For Manchester: the work of Brian Lee (1966).

Screenshot - Ringway Mural   NWF 480581.jpg

Working from his home in Macclesfield, Lee would produce a mould from polystyrene with timber formwork into which concrete could be poured. Once set he would use a blow torch to remove the polystyrene and reveal the design[8].

However, the opportunity for passengers to admire Lee’s work at Ringway would be short-lived.

Ringway1962

Only four years after opening, with ever-increasing passenger numbers and the imminent arrival of the 490-seater Boeing 747, or ‘jumbo jet’, the ‘extensibilty’ of the terminal buildings was made real.

Proposal were put forward by the new City Architect, Sidney George Besant-Roberts, to extend the existing terminal building, create a multi-storey car park and introduce a new inter-continental pier for dedicated use by the jumbo jets[9].

The multi-storey car park was to be erected on the site of the existing ground level car park and run the full length of the terminal building obscuring the existing main entrance along with its concrete abstract design.

These proposals accorded with the intention of the original architect. As early as 1955 Howitt had discussed the creation of the arrangement we see today. He envisioned that, “Passenger vehicles arriving at the airport would go up a ramp and unload their occupants directly on to the first floor of the building. Freight and baggage vehicles would arrive at ground level. Lifts would take luggage up to join its owner at the Customs counter, and then it would be returned to the ground floor.”[10]

Completed in 1974, at a cost of approximately £10 million, the new 600ft long inter-continental pier and transit lounge accommodated four jumbo jets and 1,600 passengers[11] whilst the multi-storey car park could take 2,500 vehicles[12]. Short stay parking was introduced costing 70 pence for under five hours[13].

It was anticipated that by the 1980s passenger numbers using the terminal would hit over 5 million a year[14]. Today, that figures stands at over 19 million[15]. And somewhere, under the layers of subsequent building work, Lee’s artwork survives hidden and out of view from the general public.

By Matthew Steele

We have struggled to get hold of a good image of the Ringway Murals – can you help?

You can see the film – Murtals for manchester featuring the work of Brian Lee here


[1] ‘Manchester Airport’s Concourse’, The Manchester Guardian, 27 October 1962, p6.

[2] Hartwell C, Hyde M. and Pevsner N. [2004] Lancashire: Manchester And The South-East, p457.

[3] ‘Manchester Airport – History’, Taken from a mid-1980s report by the Competition Commission, p2.

[4] ‘£3m Plan To Improve Manchester Airport’, The Manchester Guardian, 14 October 1955, p16.

[5] Untitled, The Guardian, 21 March 1962, p18.

[6] ‘Sculptures For New College’, The Manchester Guardian, 3 March 1959, p20.

[7] Untitled, The Guardian, 21 March 1962, p18.

[8] Documentary film. Murals For Manchester [1966] A copy is held by the Northwest Film Archive.

[9] ‘£6m Plan For Airport Extensions’, The Guardian, 12 November 1966, p4.

[10] ‘£3m Plan To Improve Manchester Airport’, The Manchester Guardian, 14 October 1955, p16.

[11] ‘Up, up and away’, The Guardian, 12 October 1971, p14.

[12] ‘£10m Extensions For Airport’, The Guardian, 25 March 1974

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Civil Aviation Authority. Available online at <http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2012Annual/Table_09_Terminal_and_Transit_Pax_2012.pdf> [Accessed 20 May 2013]


Do you object to the proposals to demolish Century House?

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St. Peter’s Square – Century House poposals

an application for Conservation Area Consent to demolish Century House has gone into the City Council!

Century House

“Century House is a prominent building, which is of strong local interest and clearly makes a positive contribution to the George Street Conservation Area.” English Heritage (Assessment Report – No. 475783)

Do you object to the plans that have been submitted to Manchester City Council to demolish Century House and replace it with a 162,000 sq ft 11 storey building, if so we encourage you to make your views known about the proposals in the following ways:

  1. Make your comments on the Manchester City Council Planning Portal
  2. Lobby the City Councilor of your own ward and of the City Centre
  3. Raise your concerns with the Urban Design and Conservation Team at MCC
  4. Raise your concerns with English Heritage

Application No. 102357

Reference 102357/CC/2013/C2

Here’s how…

1. First and foremost make a comment via the Manchester City Council planning portal

Click on the ‘Make a Public Comment’ button – n.b. you will have to Register and Log In before you can make your comment.

Make your own comment about what you object to but stick to planning issues – and refer back to the actual plans themselves.

Things you might consider are:

- English Heritage stated “Century House is a prominent building, which is of strong local interest and clearly makes a positive contribution to the George Street Conservation Area.” English Heritage (Assessment Report – No. 475783) therefore, its demolition will have a have a detrimental impact on the Conservation Area in which the building sits

- The twentieth Century Society – a body with a statutory role regarding twentieth century built heritage – also ‘objects strongly’ to the demolition of this building.

- This is a fine building which makes a significant contribution to the street scene in a number of ways, including the quality of detailing in the plaques and the construction material – it’s proposed replacement does nothing to add to the Conservation Area.

- The conservation area statement says: ‘No buildings in the area stand out as being particularly dominant, therefore proposals to develop new landmark buildings would not be consistent with the character of the area. The optimum height for new buildings is low to medium rise, depending on the immediate surroundings, the height of which should not be greatly exceeded’.

  • Be clear and concise
  • Stick to planning issues
  • Avoid ranting

2. Lobby the City Councilor of your own ward and the City Centre

You might also ask for the Councilors’ own opinions on this plan – request some response and some action.

All city councilors e-mail addresses can be found here:

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/councillors/ward

The Central ward Councilors are:

cllr.e.boyes@manchester.gov.uk, cllr.j.davies@manchester.gov.uk, cllr.k.peel@manchester.gov.uk,

3. Raise your concerns with the Urban Design and Conservation Team at MCC

Write to the Urban Design and Conservation Team at MCC – headed by Paul Mason and the head of Planning, Julie Roscoe at:

p.mason@manchester.gov.ukj.roscoe@manchester.gov.uk

5.Raise your concerns with English Heritage at:

Julian Holder. Historic Areas Advisor and Buildings Inspector. E-mail: julian.holder@english-heritage.org.uk

..more on Century House here

An article on Manchester Confidential can be seen here


Inside the CIS – a special tour

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We are pleased to announce a very special treat for RIBA’s lovearchitecture festival 2013

In partnership with our friends at the Co-op / NOMA 53 we invite you on a very special tour.

Inside the CIS

CIS Tower

Saturday 29th June at 10.45am

The CIS tower by, Sir John Burnet, Gordon Tait and Partners with G.S. Hay, is recognised as one of the best 1960s modernist buildings in Manchester. Interiors feature work by Misha Black and the DRU as well as murals by William Mitchell. We will also visit New Century Hall.

The tour will feature

  • 23rd / 24th / 25th Floor – board room and top floor
  • 5th Floor Ball room
  • Basement Control room
  • William Mitchell Mural
  • Exterior Water Feature
  • New Century Hall

Numbers are strictly limited – Only 20 available!

Free for current members (membership card holders only)

..or you can join our annual membership scheme for just £10.00

please reserve your free tickets – or join our membership here

With thanks to

lovearchitecture2013

noma logo


The Infra_MANC catalogue now made available online

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Infra_MANC catalogue cover

Infra_MANC catalogue cover

The Infra_MANC catalogue has now sold out. The PDF version has been made available online by Richard Brook (Manchester School of Architecture) and Martin Dodge (University of Manchester) and can be downloaded here.

The catalogue was produced to accompany the exhibition of the same name in Spring 2012. Inside, the authors examine four major post-war infrastructure projects: the Mancunian Way motorway, the unbuilt Picc-Vic railway tunnel, the Guardian underground telephone exchange and the speculative designs for a city centre heliport. The catalogue runs to over two hundred pages and is richly illustrated.


A photographic exploration in the vicinity of the Toastrack.

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On Saturday 29th June at 11am, Robert Parkinson (of Preston is my Paris) and Daniel Russell (of UHC/MMDC) invite you on a photographic exploration in the vicinity of the Toastrack.

Up to twenty people can sign up for a stroll around the Rusholme/Fallowfield periphery of the Toastrack. On the day, each of the twenty will be presented with a beautiful Toastrack book and a two pence piece for tossing. They’ll notice there’s no pictures in the book, but instead space for them and a snazzy pull-out instruction section to explain how to go about exploring the area and getting some killer snaps.

Robert and Daniel will be on hand to guide participants on the day. All you need is a camera, an eye for the Toastrack, and maybe a compass. We’ll meet in front of the Hollings Campus on Wilmslow Road.

The Toastrack is about to cease being Manchester Metropolitan University’s Hollings Campus. In 2012 the Manchester Modernist Society was invited to take up residence in the building. You can see the fruits of our investigations here

You can see the photos Robert and Daniel have taken here

We’d like all the photos taken to be uploaded to the blog eventually so you can mix and match what you print for your own books.

This event is free but numbers are limited – please register your attendance here

his event is presented as part of

lovearchitecture2013



lovearchitecture festival 2013

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21 – 30th June 2013

lovearchitecture2013

Its that time of year again and we at the Modernist Society don’t want to disappoint the architecture lovers of the city.. so this year we have organised three jolly special events for you to enjoy.

UTOPIA LONDON – the final film in our Modernists at the Movies programme at Manchester City Art Gallery. This series of film based events, brought to you in association with MMU Geography, Manchester Art Gallery and the NW Film Archive has been hugely popular. We end with this excellent and poignant exploration of post war housing on London and will be joined by the film’s director Tom Cordell.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION I THE VICINITY OF THE TOASTRACK - On Saturday 29th June at 11am, Robert Parkinson (of Preston is my Paris) and Daniel Russell (of UHC/MMDC) invite you on a photographic exploration in the vicinity of the Toastrack.

INSIDE THE CIS – A SPECIAL TOUR – gosh yes! A very special event limited to just twenty lucky people – the tour will feature

  • 23rd / 24th / 25th Floor – board room and top floor
  • 5th Floor Ball room
  • Basement Control room
  • William Mitchell Mural
  • Exterior Water Feature
  • New Century Hall

Enjoy!


Steel City – David Mellor and Sheffield

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Join us on a special visit to the David Mellor Museum and privileged access to his modernist home

The modernists take a trip … to Steel City

Saturday 17th August 2013
Join us on a special bus tour to the the David Mellor design museum and privileged access to his former home.
                  
The Manchester Modernists are preparing our first road trip and it is a journey over the Pennines to celebrate the life and work of designer David Mellor.
We will travel by coach firstly to Hathersage, where the David Mellor cutlery factory and visitor centre is located. The factory is housed in The Round Building by Michael Hopkins and is a RIBA award winning building. Although the factory does not produce on a Saturday we have been granted a special tour. The visitor centre houses a shop, a collection of Mellor’s numerous works including 1960′s post boxes and traffic lights.. and very nice cafe. We will have lunch here so bring a packed lunch if you don’t want to dine in the cafe.
After lunch we travel on to Sheffield and we are very privileged to be able to Mellor’s former home. The Grade II listed house is from 1959 and designed by Patric Guest. Originally the house was sub divided – with one half Mellor’s workshop and the other living accommodation. It now is now a beautifully cared for family home with sympathetic owners and we are very lucky to be invited in.
After that we plan to make the short trip to the Grade II* listed Arts Tower and Library at Sheffield University. Patric Guest also worked on this building during his time at Gollins, Melvin, Ward and Partners. We hope to gain access to both the tower and library.Leaving Manchester at 10.00am – hopefully to be back by around 6.00pm.
£20 members – £25 non members.
Leaving from Fairfield Street at the side of Piccadilly Station at 10.00am

Garden of Remembrance

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 by Matthew Steele

Author's Pic

Image photographed by the author.

Laid out on the site of the James Wyatt’s Church of St. Peter, built 1788-1794 and demolished in 1907[1], the Garden of Remembrance was designed in 1947 by Manchester’s former City Architect, Leonard Cecil Howitt, and dedicated to the fallen of the two world wars. The design, with a ‘total length of 90 feet and overall width of 52 feet’[2] incorporated a Portland stone cross by Temple Lushington Moore[3], unveiled in 1908 to commemorate the site of the demolished church, and the Portland stone Cenotaph designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1924[4].

The central peninsula of the garden was to be ‘laid out as a flower garden with turfed verge bordered on three sides by a stone-paved pathway. The perimeter of this area would be fitted with continuous seating and the surrounding enclosure consist of a solid balustrade in Portland stone of enough width to accommodate flowering plants and creepers’[5].

Announced in February 1948, models of the proposed scheme were exhibited by the Manchester War Memorial Committee in four on-loan vans stationed around the city; Piccadilly Gardens, Albert Square, St. Peter’s Square and Deansgate[6]. Curious visitors were asked to pay a viewing fee with donations invited as part of a campaign to set up a trust fund ‘for the benefit of members of the Services and Civil Defence organisations who were victims of the recent war or the war of 1914-18’[7].

The campaign, officially launched at the Town Hall by Alderman W.P. Jackson on 4th May 1948, hoped to raise £100,000 of which £5,000 would be set aside for the Garden of Remembrance. With an anonymous donation of £10,000 from a ‘well-known citizen’, along with a planned celebrity concert at the Manchester Opera House, there was optimism that the target could be achieved[8].

In support of the campaign a letter was sent by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Miss Mary Kingsmill Jones, the Committee’s chair, to every home in the city and a further appeal was made by Lord Derby to ’80 Indian princes, with copies to all freemen of Manchester and to a number of cities in the United States, Canada and South Africa which have particular associations with Manchester’[9].

However, the atmosphere of optimism was tempered by the Rector of Saint Saviours Church, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, who criticised the plans for the concert. Free usage of the Manchester Opera House had been offered by the owners Howard and Wyndham but, the proposed date, 6th June 1948, fell on a Sunday which the Rector felt was a ‘deliberate and unnecessary desecration’ of the Sabbath[10].

Defending the plans, the Lord Mayor replied, ‘This concert has been organised by the proprietors of the Manchester Opera House and their action has been gratefully approved by the War Memorial Committee and I, personally, see no reason why an appeal should be made to me to cancel it.’[11]

The concert, led by the Halle, proceeded with guest artists including leading members of the Carl Rosa Opera Company and his Orchestra[12].

On the 12th November, chromium-plated spade in hand, the ground breaking ceremony was led by the Lord Mayor[13] but, within a month it was being reported that the response to the fund raising campaign had been disappointing with merely £28,000 being raised, this including the initial anonymous donation of £10,000[14]. Praising the generosity of people in the house-to-house collections, the Lord Mayor’s criticism was mostly aimed at the city’s big firms, although she offered some excuse on behalf of the Co-operative Wholesale Society who ‘regretted its inability to help’[15] having suffered particularly badly during the Christmas Blitz of 1940[16].

This lukewarm response to what was felt to be an achievable target perhaps explains why a more ambitious War Memorial Building designed by Howitt had been previously discarded. This earlier scheme, to be located on the site of the blitz-damaged All Saints Church, included an assembly hall with seating for 850 persons and a separate Hall of Remembrance. Above the Hall of Remembrance a library was proposed while the remainder of the first floor was to be taken up with rooms for use by ex-service men’s organisations. The artist impression shows the building overlooking a reflective pool of water and featured a wide stepped entrance flanked by statues of lions. At an estimate cost of £250,000, including the purchase of the site, it is not surprising that the scheme was to remain un-built[17].

By early 1949, the Committee once again turned to the people of Manchester appealing to the industrial workers to make a donation of 3 shillings and sixpence each by donation or by weekly pay deductions[18]. The Lord Mayor stated there was no question the Garden of Remembrance wouldn’t be completed but it had become obvious that insufficient money would remain to establish the trust fund for ex-servicemen.

This led to the organiser of The Manchester War Memorial Fund, Mr Walter Ridley, to tender his resignation although the War Memorial Committee stressed that Mr Ridley was in no way to blame for the poor response[19].

The Garden of Remembrance was finally completed in the spring of 1949 at a cost of over £6,000[20]. A service of dedication led by the Bishop of Manchester was held on the 30th March attended by the future monarch, Princess Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh[21].

In November 2012, Manchester City Council approved plans to relocate Lutyens’ Grade II* listed Cenotaph. This move comes ahead of the redevelopment of St. Peter’s Square to accommodate a second city centre crossing of the tram service[22].

Unfortunately, this will see the removal of the Garden of Remembrance.


[1] Hartwell C. and Wyke T. [2007] Making Manchester, p10.

[2] ‘A War Memorial Plan’, The Manchester Guardian, 30April 1947, p8.

[3] Cocks H and Wyke T. [2004] Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, p130.

[4] Parkinson-Bailey J.J. [2000] Manchester: An Architectural History, p342.

[5] ‘A War Memorial Plan’, The Manchester Guardian, 30April 1947, p8.

[6] ‘Models of Garden of Remembrance’, The Manchester Guardian, 14February 1948, p3.

[7] ‘Anonymous Gift of £10,000: Manchester Memorial Fund‘, The Manchester Guardian, 5May 1948, p6.

[8] Ibid

[9] ‘War Memorial Fund Campaign: Manchester Plans’, The Manchester Guardian, 24April 1948, p6.

[10] ‘Criticism of Sunday Concert: Lord Mayor’s Reply’, The Manchester Guardian, 3June 1948, p6.

[11] Ibid

[12] ‘War Memorial Fund Concert’, The Manchester Guardian, 1 June 1948, p3.

[13] ‘Garden of Remembrance’, The Manchester Guardian, 13November 1948, p6.

[14] ‘Memorial Appeal Disappoints: Only £28,000 Raised’, The Manchester Guardian, 13December 1948, p3.

[15] Ibid

[16] ‘Hollyoake House on Fire’. Available online at < http://www.co-op.ac.uk/blog-posts/holyoake-house-fire-manchester-blitz-film/> [Accessed 5 July 2013]

[17] ‘Manchester’s War Memorial: A Modified Scheme’, The Manchester Guardian, 21September, 1946, p7.

[18] ‘Workers’ Share in War Memorial: Manchester Appeal’, The Manchester Guardian, 6January 1949, p3.

[19] ‘Manchester’s War Memorial: Appeal Organiser Resigns’, The Manchester Guardian, 12May 1949, p8.

[20] Ibid

[21] ‘Manchester’s Sunny Welcome For Princess And Duke’, The Manchester Guardian, 31March 1949, p5.

[22] ‘Plans to Move The Cenotaph in Manchester City Centre Approved’. Manchester Evening News, 22 November 2012, Available online at <http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/plans-to-move-the-cenotaph-in-manchester-city-697593> [Accessed 5 July 2013]


‘Theatre of Memory’

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by Matthew Steele

Following the removal of the Peace Gardens and Ian Simpson’s controversial proposals for Library Walk and No 2 St. Peter’s Square, the dismantling of the Garden of Remembrance (1947-49) by Leonard Cecil Howitt, Manchester’s former City Architect, is imminent.

The redevelopment of St. Peter’s Square  to accommodate plans for a second city centre crossing of the tram service, approved by Manchester City Council in November 2012, also includes the relocation of the Grade II* listed Cenotaph, designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1924[1]. In its place a new public square by German firm Latz & Partner aims to de-clutter the space[2], a phrase which echoes earlier discussions regarding the pedestrianisation of Albert Square in the immediate post-war years.

Latz and Partner Proposal

Image source: Latz and Partner. Available online 

Contained within the 1945 City of Manchester Plan were proposals to create a processional route between the Town Hall and soon-to-be-built Courts of Justice. Albert Square was to form one of two public domains located at either end, the other being Crown Square[3]. Early discussions regarding the proposals had focussed upon the Prince Albert Memorial.  Erected in 1867, the memorial was no longer considered to be structurally sound with sections missing having been removed during the war[4].

Reflecting a prevalent desire to break free from the image of the old Victorian City[5], Councillor J.E. Pheasey advocated the removal of the memorial entirely, proposing that a fountain be installed in its place in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. He even speculated that the square could be renamed ‘Elizabeth Square’[6].

These ideas were picked up in 1957 by Councillor A. Donovan who lobbied to remove the memorial, along with other ‘out of date’ statues, in order to establish a square ‘laid out on modern lines including a garden’; these plans being rejected by Manchester Corporation Highways Committee on the basis of cost[7]. Donovan pledged to pursue the matter at the next meeting of the City Council whereby discussions continued to focus on the ‘thoroughly out of date’ statues[8]. Offering his support, Alderman R. Moss insisted that the ‘present layout of Albert Square did not show much evidence of progressiveness in Manchester. In its present form the square was drab and ugly and wasted, and a garden would provide people with somewhere to sit at lunchtime during fine weather’[9].

Councillor Douglas Edwards offered a compromise recommending that the Memorial and other various statues could be incorporated into the proposed processional route[10]. Such possibilities gave the City Council an excuse to defer judgement on the removal of the Prince Albert Memorial[11].

Instead proposals for a permanent bus shelter, first revealed by the Manchester Transport Committee in July 1953, were given the go-ahead. Early reports suggesting that the 140 ft. long shelter would incorporate a roof garden are evidenced in photographs of the completed scheme[12].

The brief had called for the provision of an enclosed shelter on an island in Albert Square opposite and parallel to the main façade of the Town Hall which could provide queuing space leading to four bus loading points. Separate office accommodation would be provided for a timekeeper[13].

Erected by contractor, G & J Seddon Ltd., and completed in 1957 at a cost of £7,559[14], the repeating modules of aluminium columns with armour plate glass infill would provide a blueprint for the future Piccadilly Bus Station[15].

Following completion of the project, debate continued regarding Albert Square’s value as a civic space; even the newly built bus shelters were targeted for criticism with the use of a public square as a bus station thought by some to be ‘highly questionable’[16].

Writing in The Guardian, A.C. Sewter commented, “Visually Albert Square is an unsightly clutter. In producing this distressing effect, the statues should not be made to bear the brunt of the blame. The real offenders are the pedestrian railings, the Belisha beacons, the antiparking notices, the parking notices, the parked cars and taxis, the shrubs in tubs, the bus shelters, the multiplicity of roadways and worst of all the public lavatory railings.”[17]

These views were generally supported by Cecil Stewart who advocated closing the road along the front of the Town Hall and creating a paved piazza with the Prince Albert Memorial standing alone as the centre piece. He further suggested that the public lavatories should be closed and the bus shelters moved away from the paved area. These ideas were eventually taken up by the Civic Trust Scheme in 1964[18] after the City Council had finally voted in favour of the memorial’s retention. Following the announcement the local press reported that the city’s pigeons could rest content as the ‘Pigeon Loft’, the Prince Albert Memorial, had been reprieved[19].

So what can we learn from these historic debates?

The largely pedestrianised and de-cluttered Albert Square has created a civic space which today sits proudly alongside other more celebrated public squares across Europe. It has become the focal point for football parades, international festivals, and Christmas festivities. And whilst further improvements could be made to encourage daily use of the square as something other than a transitory space, it is nonetheless a public square that the citizens of Manchester can be proud; a space enhanced by the rich architectural heritage of its surroundings.

Undoubtedly, a St. Peter’s Square with Lutyens’ Cenotaph ‘standing alone as the centre piece’ would have been an elegant solution to its redevelopment. However, the Portland stone cross which marks the site of James Wyatt’s St. Peter Church is less portable for this reason.

The real cause for concern is the pending demolition of Century House to make way for Ian Simpson No.2 St. Peter’s Square[20]. Constructed in 1934 to the designs of Antoine William Roques, the building is contemporaneous with Emanuel Vincent Harris’ Central Library, completed in the same year[21], and the Town Hall Extension completed three years later[22].

 Author's Pic.jpg

Image photographed by author.

Roques was made a Fellow of The Royal Institute of British Architects in 1927 supported amongst others by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott[23], designer of the iconic K6 red telephone box[24]; two examples of which were recently removed from Library Walk, their return unlikely.

Responsible for designing a series of building for the Friends Provident Society including Century House, here Roques engaged Joseph Hermon Cawthra to provide the relief carvings which decorate the building[25]; a commission that would later see Cawthra appointed to provide decorative carvings to the façade of the now Grade II* listed Town Hall Extension[26].

Not only is there an obvious visual link between Century House and the Town Hall Extension, Cawthra’s carvings represent a historical continuity in the built environment which exposes the decorative gable of the proposed No 2 St Peter’s Square as cheap mimicry; a gesture which will only serve as a reminder of what has been lost should the scheme proceed.

No2 St Peter's Square

Image source: Architects Journal 16 May 2003. Available online

Therefore, whilst Latz and Partner’s proposals for St. Peter’s Square, viewed through the prism of Albert Square, should be a welcome addition to Manchester’s public spaces, the erosion of the architectural heritage that bounds the space will, unfortunately, do little to contribute to its success.

(Manchester City Council approved the demolition of Century House on Thursday, 25 July 2013 – their full report can be downloaded here)


[1] Parkinson-Bailey J.J. [2000] Manchester: An Architectural History, p342.

[2] Latz & Partner. Available online at <http://www.latzundpartner.de/projects/detail/220> [Accessed 24 June 2013]

[3] Hartwell C. [2001] Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester, p248.

[4] ‘Albert Memorial To Be Examined’, The Manchester Guardian, 21October 1950, p4.

[5] Hartwell C. and Wyke T. [2007] Making Manchester, p108.

[6] ‘An Albert Square Rest Garden?’, The Manchester Guardian, 21November 1952, p12.

[7] ‘Statues To Stay’, The Manchester Guardian, 2November 1957, p10.

[8] ‘No One Spoke Up For Gladstone: Manchester’s Statues’, The Manchester Guardian, 7November 1957, p16.

[9] Ibid

[10] Ibid

[11] ‘Sweeping Away The 1870s: Albert Square Statues’, The Manchester Guardian, 10 February 1961, p22.

[12] ‘Bus Shelter With Roof Garden?’, The Manchester Guardian, 22July 1953, p10.

[13] Taken from transcribed submission by LC Howitt, 22/06/60, for Civic Amenity Award held at the Greater Manchester County Records Office.

[14] Ibid

[15] ‘Precast Concrete Bus Shelters: Too Ugly For Piccadilly’, The Manchester Guardian, 22March 1957, p16.

[16] ‘Clearing The Clutter In Albert Square: Statues Not Real Offenders’, The Guardian 13March 1961, p18.

[17] Ibid

[18] ‘Plan To Remodel Albert Square: Manchester Told: ‘It’s Chaos’, The Guardian, 13 November 1964, p24.

[19] ‘Pigeon Loft Reprieved’, The Guardian, 22May 1963, p4.

[20] ‘Green Light To Be Given To Done Brother’s Building Plans’, Manchester Evening News, 25 Jun 2013 Available online at < http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/property/green-light-given-done-brothers-4705604> [Accessed 26 June 2013]

[21] Hartwell C. and Wyke T. [2007] Making Manchester, p135.

[22] Hartwell C. and Wyke T. [2007] Making Manchester, p152.

[23] Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Available online at <http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=203016> [Accessed 24 June 2013]

[24] Delafon J. [1997] Politics and Preservation: A Policy History of the Built Heritage 1882-1996, p146

[25] English Heritage. Available online at

<http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle_print.aspx?uid=1412882&showMap=1&showText=1> [Accessed 5 July 2013]

[26] Cocks H and Wyke T. [2004] Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, p48.


Steel City – David Mellor and Sheffield – our day out

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A selection of images from our visit to the David Mellor factory, his former home at Park Lane and the Arts Tower sheffield 17.08.13.

Download notes here -

David Mellor & Park Lane

Arts Tower

(images Eddy Rhead & Jack Hale)


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