City Tower, Manchester

City Tower
General information
Status Complete
Type Office, Communication, Retail
Architectural style Modernist
Location Manchester, England
Coordinates 53°28′49″N 2°14′18″W / 53.48028°N 2.23833°W / 53.48028; -2.23833Coordinates: 53°28′49″N 2°14′18″W / 53.48028°N 2.23833°W / 53.48028; -2.23833
Completed 1965
Owner Schroders
Height
Antenna spire 123 m (404 ft)
Roof 107 m (351 ft)
Top floor 28
Technical details
Floor count 30
Floor area 20,905 m2 (225,020 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators 8
Design and construction
Architect Covell, Matthews & Partners
Developer Bernard Sunley & Sons

City Tower (formerly Sunley House) is a 30-storey skyscraper situated in the Piccadilly Gardens area of Manchester, England. It has the highest office space currently available in Manchester, standing 107 metres (351 ft) tall. City Tower was completed in 1965, one of three buildings forming the Piccadilly Plaza complex which was constructed by the developers Bernard Sunley & Sons and designed by Covell, Matthews & Partners, 1959-65.[1] It is currently the fourth tallest building in Manchester. The Tower has retail and leisure units on the ground floor and is Manchester's main radio transmitting station, which is located on the roof. The developer Bruntwood sold City Tower to the asset management company Schroders for £132 millon in 2014 but kept their headquarters in the building.[2]

The Piccadilly Plaza was remodelled by Leslie Jones Architects in 2001-02. City Tower stands at right angles to Piccadilly and the north-facing wall is covered with designs based on circuit boards. In the remodeling the building to the west of City Tower, Eagle Star House, was replaced by a building whose roofs are a pale echo of the swooping roofs of the original.[3]

Background

View of part of the Piccadilly Plaza, including City Tower

The Tower has entrances on York Street (renamed New York Street in 2008) and Piccadilly Gardens (formerly Parker Street). Over the years, the Tower became increasingly run down and many tenants left. A refurbishment programme was drawn up in the late 1990s, but this was never realised until Bruntwood purchased Piccadilly Plaza for £65 million in 2004. This plan is complete, with a new central ground floor entrance. The next phase involved repainting and fitting an atrium to the sides of the Tower. An advertising screen has been erected showing full motion video clips to passers-by in the Gardens.

The Tower is one of Manchester's main broadcast transmission sites, hosting the antennae of local radio stations XFM, Rock Radio, Capital on FM and digital radio multiplexes Digital One, BBC, MXR North West and CE Manchester.

The penthouse on floor 28 differs from the other floors as it originally had a walkway around the perimeter. When Bruntwood acquired City Tower, they removed the walkway and installed wider windows. The redesign included an overhang with floor to ceiling windows.

Although City Tower is not the tallest building in the city, the 28th floor is the highest commercial office space in Manchester. This floor was occupied by UKFast[4] but now appears to be at least partly vacant.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2004), Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, (The Buildings of England), Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10583-5; p. 326
  2. ↑ "City Tower sale announcement". 7 May 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2004), Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, (The Buildings of England), Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10583-5; p. 326
  4. ↑ "BBC". BBC Highest office space in Manchester.
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