VOTING CLOSES TONIGHT | What is Manchester’s most important building?

Vote before the end of 26 August to have your say on the building that has had the greatest impact on the city.

Place North West went to our readers with a question earlier this month: What is Manchester’s most important building? We kept the question purposefully vague – did importance mean visual impact? Economic or cultural benefits? A project that inspires others and over time brings about major changes in one way or another?

We did provide some criteria though: the building had to be completed within the past 100 years and it must be in Manchester proper.

Pulling from those responses we crafted a shortlist. Now the time has come to determine a winner. The poll opened on 12 August and closes at the end of the day on 26 August. To vote, simply rank your top three in the poll below or at this link.

The winner will be announced in September, so watch this space. Read more about the shortlisted buildings below.

100 King Street now houses the Rex hotel. Credit: Google Earth

100 King Street

Completed: 1932

Client: Midland Bank

Architect: Sir Edwin Lutyens

Still often referred to as the Midland Bank, and notably Lutyens’ only major Manchester commission, the edifice at the top of King Street has in recent years found a new life as a high-end hotel. Built in a Neoclassical style quite unlike its neighbours, it is, as one reader observed, “an assured work in that simplified yet very inventive take on classicism that only Lutyens could master in this way”.

The Arndale is bound by Corporation Street, High Street, Withy Grove  and Market Street. Credit: Place North West.

Arndale Centre

Completed: 1976, redeveloped post-1996

Developer: Town & City Properties

Architect: Hugh Wilson & JL Womersley

Many would argue razing historic street grids to try and build the UK’s largest shopping centre was a disastrous venture. And yet… one reader makes the case: “Loved or hated, it has certainly made its mark and is easily one of our most visited and well-used buildings. The iconic office tower, the rebuilding after the IRA bomb, and its cultural impact drawing people in from the region to shop and gather. Without it the city centre would be very different.”

Beetham Tower anchors the southern end of Deansgate. Credit: Place North West

Beetham Tower

Completed: 2006

Developer: Beetham

Architect: SimpsonHaugh

Early 2000s Manchester was on the rise, but was by no means seen universally as “the capital of the North” – Leeds had been the regeneration success of the 1990s. But a bullish city council working with hungry developers saw a suite of ambitious projects made reality: Spinnngfields, Piccadilly Place et al. Delivery of this 47-storey signal of confidence, as rivals failed to make their own tower ambitions a reality, was a huge achievement. Beetham laid down a marker. The Age of Renaker and ‘Manchattan’ followed.

The Lower Mosley Street venue opened in 1996. Credit: Place North West

Bridgewater Hall

Completed: 1996

Client/Developer: Central Manchester Development Corporation

Architect: RHWL and Arup Acoustics

Technically ingenious in its design, Bridgewater Hall broadened Manchester’s cultural offer, gave the Halle Orchestra a fitting home, and has housed countless conventions, concerts, graduations and gatherings over 30 years in a quietly classy, unfussy way. One reader described Bridgewater Hall as “the start of Manchester’s regeneration and the start of a big gamble on culture”. It might be the city’s most taken for granted modern addition.

Central Library overlooks St Peter’s Square. Credit: Place North West

Central Library

Completed: 1934

Client: Manchester Corporation

Architect: E. Vincent Harris

As argued by Laurie Mentiplay, “Manchester was the first local authority to provide a public lending and reference library. It continued to innovate with the new Central Library in 1934. Then again with a major refurbishment and transformation in 2014. The Central Library continues to give us opportunities to improve our lives for the better. It’s free to visit, welcoming and inclusive.”

The CIS tower sits in the NOMA estate on Miller Street. Credit: Place North West

CIS Tower

Completed: 1962

Client/Developer: Co-operative Insurance Society

Architect: Gordon Tait & CS Hay

Designed for the Co-operative Insurance Society, the tower remains instantly recognisable, and a wayfinding mechanism for the Victoria/Noma area. One nomination used the word ‘trailblazer’, and the building remains the UK’s tallest office tower outside London. Stories about its future direction are always eagerly received by Place readers, keen to see a future befitting its heritage.

Express is Great Ancoats Street’s architectural gem. Credit: Jim Stephenson via RDPR

Daily Express Building

Completed: 1939

Client: Daily Express

Architect: Sir Owen Williams

Trailed as a likely contender in Place’s launch story, several readers have put on record their support for Great Ancoats Street’s classiest structure. Grade two-listed, it was delivered as one of a set of three for the Daily Express, with the sister buildings in London and Glasgow also designed in a futurist, Art Deco style featuring opaque glazing. Now billed simply as Express, it is a monument to publishing’s glory days.

The Royal Exchange Theatre sits within the Royal Exchange off St Anns Square. Credit: Marketing Manchester

Royal Exchange Theatre

Completed: 1976

Client: Royal Exchange Theatre Company

Architect: Levitt Bernstein

The exchange complex in itself is beautiful and important. But it is slightly too old for this poll, so allow the case to be made for the idiosyncratic theatre-in-the-round housed in the main space. Phil Griffin argues: “The structure celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year, as startlingly modern and refreshingly original today is it was on opening night, in September 1976.” Another supporter enthuses about how the “incredible juxtaposition between the breath-taking Victorian trading floor and the so-called lunar module” make it a must-see for visitors.

On Hunts Bank, the venue sits opposite Victoria station. Credit: Place North West

Stoller Hall and Chetham’s School of Music

Completed: 2012 and 2017

Client: Chetham’s School of Music

Architect: Stephenson Bell and Stephenson ISA Studio

The design conceived and taken forward after approval in 2009 came from Stephenson Bell, before the partnership split in 2011. The expansion of Chetham’s from its historic neighbouring estate, was completed in 2012, and the auditorium in 2016, netting a RIBA National Award 2017 for Stephenson Studio. The project received several nominations. Jeremy Hinds said: “The building is architecturally stunning, but more importantly, it houses the largest world-class music school in the UK and is unique to the region. The building, I think, is iconic and provides cultural standing for Manchester on the international music scene.”

Sunlight House sits on Little Quay Street. Credit: Place North West

Sunlight House

Completed: 1932

Developer and architect: Joseph Sunlight

On its completion the tallest building in the city, the 14-storey Art Deco gem remains a showstopper. The building has passed through the hands of a dizzying array of owners this century, and has had a few makeovers tart-ups, most significantly through current owner Karrev pumping in £35m, reaping immediate rewards in letting two full floors.

T1 gave Manchester an international gateway rivals haven’t matched. Credit: MAG

Terminal One, Manchester Airport

Completed: 1962

Client: Manchester Corporation

Architect: LC Howitt

A leftfield choice? Let Kevin O’Connor try and convince you. “Controversial, perhaps, as it is certainly not aesthetically pleasing, but its importance is undeniable. Envisioned in the post-war period, it was a statement of bold civic ambition that served as Manchester’s primary gateway to the world for over six decades. Beyond its immense economic contribution, it is for all Mancunians the place they travel through to the world beyond, symbolised by its famous 1960s Venetian glass chandeliers. It has touched the lives of generations.”

Urbis on Cathedral Gardens has found a new lease of life. Credit: Place North West

Urbis

Completed: 2002

Client: Manchester City Council

Architect: SimpsonHaugh

Now home to the National Football Museum. As argued by Civic director James Bruce: “It marked a turning point in how Manchester saw itself and how the rest of the world saw the city. After 1996, Manchester  could rebuild what had been lost or redefine itself. Urbis became one of the clearest physical expressions of that ambition. Its bold, contemporary architecture announced that Manchester wasn’t interested in looking backwards, but was prepared to take risks, invest in culture and embrace a different future.”