Canada House, Manchester - October 2012
Visited with Hidden
I'd looked at this one after doing Lancaster House some time ago but had been stopped at the door. Seemingly round every corner in the Portland Street / Oxford Road area of Manchester is an old cotton warehouse, built in the Victorian era as ornate temples to commerce. I met up with Hidden, and we waited for some late arrivals in town and due to some opportunistic parking we spotted the building is now scaffed. I was elated. A quick walk around proved that this one would be very easy, so with time to kill, we skipped up.
History
Constructed originally as a packing warehouse, the Grade-II listed art nouveau building opened in 1909. Designed by local architect William Higginbottom. In the 90's the building was renovated for office use, but still looks largely the same from the exterior. Tenants of Canada House include English Heritage who have their North West office at the building.
Like Lancaster House, this one is covered in elaborately carved, moulded and decorated terracotta tiles. The architects favouring the building material for its ability to stay clean amidst the pollution of an industrialised city. Obviously, as the building is covered in scaffolding, I can't really show you much of this, other than the octagonal pinnacles with domed caps you can see from the top...
Thanks,
tweek
Visited with Hidden
I'd looked at this one after doing Lancaster House some time ago but had been stopped at the door. Seemingly round every corner in the Portland Street / Oxford Road area of Manchester is an old cotton warehouse, built in the Victorian era as ornate temples to commerce. I met up with Hidden, and we waited for some late arrivals in town and due to some opportunistic parking we spotted the building is now scaffed. I was elated. A quick walk around proved that this one would be very easy, so with time to kill, we skipped up.
History
Constructed originally as a packing warehouse, the Grade-II listed art nouveau building opened in 1909. Designed by local architect William Higginbottom. In the 90's the building was renovated for office use, but still looks largely the same from the exterior. Tenants of Canada House include English Heritage who have their North West office at the building.
Like Lancaster House, this one is covered in elaborately carved, moulded and decorated terracotta tiles. The architects favouring the building material for its ability to stay clean amidst the pollution of an industrialised city. Obviously, as the building is covered in scaffolding, I can't really show you much of this, other than the octagonal pinnacles with domed caps you can see from the top...
Thanks,
tweek
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