Tall Buildings in Manchester - More discussion at CUBE
CUBE’s series Tall Talks continued this evening with more discussions on the theme of tall buildings.
As on Tuesday, the meeting was attended by many people involved in planning and architecture in Manchester including many architecture students.
Host Jim Chapman, architect and urban designer, introduced the speakers, each of whom gave a presentation on the subject of tall buildings.
Ian Simpson spoke passionately about tall buildings, and explained about the background to Manchester’s (Beetham) Hilton tower, which he designed. He talked about the factors that make tall buildings viable, and said that London and Manchester cannot be put on the same level.
Here are some of Ian Simpson’s main points:
- The correct name for what people refer to as the Beetham Tower is the Hilton Tower, as the site and hotel are owned by Hilton.
- It is very difficult to get into the Skybar, due to limitations caused by fire regulations. Even he has difficulty getting in there, and he can’t afford the drinks.
- It’s very difficult to tell how a building is going to look when it’s finished.
- From initial sketch to starting construction was only 11 months on the HIlton Tower project.
- The Hilton Tower is a low cost building. For economic reasons, in Manchester you couldn’t afford to design anything as sophisticated as the Gherkin in London.
- The Hilton Tower will change the perception of Manchester from that of a Victorian city to one that’s passionate about embracing the future.
Wayne Mellor is the Director of Inacity. He spoke enthusiastically and humorously about the background to the Inacity Tower, set to be Manchester’s next major tall building.
Here are selected points from Wayne Mellor’s talk:
- He likes tall buildings and is going to live in the penthouse apartment of the completed Inacity Tower
- It took four years to buy the site, next to Piccadilly Station, and two years to get planning permission.
- Construction would already have been underway, but an element of the financing changed unexpectedly. It is now set to commence in early 2007.
- The tower will be 60 storeys. Two further buildings will be 12 and 18 storeys.
- A sizeable proportion of the development has been given away for public realm.
- There will be a bridge over Store Street linking the development with Piccadilly Station.
Roger Milburn, chairman of ARUP has been involved with many projects in Manchester and the north west. In his presentation he spelled out the many factors that are required if tall buildings are to contribute to sustainability and regeneration.
- Tall buildings can contribute to sustainability and regeneration, but only if certain requirements are fulfilled.
- Tall buildings can be symbolic of power and confidence as well as pride in a city and its identity.
- Tall buildings can be a stimulus to development and regeneration.
- The definition of tall is relative. The Beetham Hilton tower is a relatively small building compared to the tallest buildings in the world.
Tim Evans is a partner / creative director at Sheppard Robson, architects of the RBS Building on Deansgate and the redeveloped Citypoint Tower in London. He spoke about their mixed use project on the Isle of Dogs in east London, next to Canary Wharf.
- Author Sigfried Giedion in his book Space Time and Architecture (1941) wrote about tall buildings. In summary, he said that tall buildings were synonymous with the progress of humanity.
- Tall buildings are often an expression of ego. The Freedom Tower was criticised by Robert Campbell, architectural correspondent with the Boston Globe.
- Tall buildings are generally not very sustainable. Development costs increase the higher a building goes.
- ‘Urban hypertrophy’ can result if too many tall buildings are built close together.
- Monofunctional towers, such as office buildings, can’t be sustainable. Mixed use towers achieve a better quality of life.
CUBE is dedicated to educating people about architecture and the built environment, and in the opinion of Eye On Manchester, this two discussions have been extremely successful in that aim. I learned a huge amount about buildings in Manchester as well as architecture in general.
It was great to see the faces behind the projects that are currently shaping the new Manchester, and to hear them talk about their ideas in person.
CUBE was threatened with closure, but has re-opened under new management. They are keen to reach out to as many people as possible. Anyone can become a friend of CUBE for £30 a year (concessions £10). Eye On Manchester will definitely be joining, and recommends that anyone who is interested in the development and architecture of Manchester should join too.
More details on the CUBE website www.cube.org.uk