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feature of the Month
Welcome to our Features of the Month section, a regular rollercoaster ride of emotions, from lamentations, rants of disappointment and despair to occasional bouts of jubilation and over enthusiasm, as we select for your delectation three structures per month, one demolished, one at risk and to lighten the mood and cheer the heart, a classic modernist icon, an undisputed favourite such as the CIS tower, the Express building or the Midland Bank, that has lived to fight another day....
This section comes to you straight from the ‘front line’ of the built environment highlighting the ever changing fortunes of 20th century Manchester buildings both great and small, tracing their progress from flavour of the month, to unloved and neglected, and finally, inevitably to the implacable wrath of the bulldozer.
nb - readers of a sensitive nature might wish to look away now & shield their eyes from explicit scenes of mindless violence against helpless architectural rarities...
this month we are highlighting the battles facing those much maligned monuments from the post war period, an era beseiged by a pincer movement of bulldozers, public indifference and an often outright aggressive press. here's the story of three locals battling the forces of antipathy....
EAGLE STAR HOUSE, 54-70 Mosley Street,
CRUIKSHANK & SEWARD, 1973 -2005
Built originally for Royal London Assurance, this large glass and concrete block never stood much of a chance, replacing as it did the much loved 1841 Milne Building that had received the highest praise from Pevsner in his Buildings of England, declaring it ‘the most startling warehouse of Manchester.’ hardly a good introduction for any successor, even such an elegant one by the renowned Manchester firm Cruikshank and Seward.
No surprise then that less than 30 years later it was the recipient of wholesale condemnation bordering on savagery, described as‘the worst blight on the street’ and a ‘decaying hulk providing an unwelcome blemish on a modern city seeking inward investment’ in various local press. The city council couldnt get rid of it fast enough, presumably fearing that it alone stood in the way of manchester’s commercial and cultural rebirth, its position near the city gallery’s expensive new extension a veritable affront!
The printed word tends to take on the tenor of orthodoxy and the erudite considerations over at the ever reliable archisnaps were presumably drowned out by the scorn of the MEN and the property press on the one hand and the weight of pevsner on the other. a pity because this reading paints a distinctly different picture -
Incorporating what must be one of the last built elements of Manchester’s proposed elevated city centre pedestrian deck Eagle Star House contrasts with the scale and verticality of its built context. A level of deck sits above street shop frontage, above which are three storeys of horizontally expressed offices and a rooftop penthouse. End elevations express the section of the scheme with circulation space being articulated by a full height cleft running from deck level upwards. Clad in smooth Portland stone its Modernist credentials are emphasised with a Corbusian stair meeting the street corner at the northern end of the building.
despite this plucky defence it was eventually demolished for the entirely dreary cobbett house, a particularly pointless rebuild that appears to be trying so hard to be a pastiche of a modernist building that we might as well have been bold enough to keep the original. we end with its own tepid boast:
The building provides a harmonious synthesis of contemporary and traditional to provide a bridge from past/present to future. Contemporary design is mixed with traditional materials such as pre cast concrete and glass to provide a building that will differentiate Cobbetts from its major competitors.
Eagle Star House, cruelly demolished for a palid pretender, 2005
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modernist month of may - tales from the red phone booth....
our saga of the Red phone booth to coincide with the commissioning of our K6 sound installation running at MOSI throughout FutureEverything festival may 2010, draws to a dramatic finish in this section...
the k6 reigned unchallenged as the public call-box until the mid1960s, when incessant vandalism and the high cost of maintenance led the Post Office, and subsequently British Telecom, to commission a new generation of more accessible phone boxes. yet its real demise came from within. enter the K8, the young pretender...
K8, Bruce Martin,
new estates, modernist railway stations, remote windswept spots, 1965 - 1985
THE YOUNG PRETENDER
designed by Bruce Martin, the funky K8 was the first serious challenger to K6. it was used primarily for new sites, around 11000 were installed, replacing earlier models only when they needed relocating or had been damaged beyond repair. the K8 retained a red colour scheme, but in a slightly brighter 'Poppy Red', which went on to be the standard colour across all kiosks. it was sassy, sleek and groovy in a tomorrows world, pans people sort of way, with its full glass panes and streamlined edges. less heritage and altogether more with it, more pop! spot one even today, and it looks modernistic, exciting and futuristic.
yet ironically, its relative success was partly due to its K6 inheritance. it took on some aspects of the failed experiment of the K7 (ie. a modern door handle, and full panes of toughened glass on three sides) but remained constructed of cast-iron, greatly adding to its resistance to the UK climate, and with some exceptions the all-over red livery was considered too important to be dispensed with - some K8's in Liverpool and Manchester were painted a distinctive 'Telecom Yellow', as opposed to 'Post Office Red'.and it never completely replaced the old war horse; K6 and K8 survived together into the 1980's, when the death knell for both were sounded with the arrival of the KX100 series.
this marks the real end of our story. the sad story of the red phone booth - they lost their domed roofs. then their red uniforms, and finally even their doors. they were on their way to becoming little more than posts with phones attached when a conservation movement in the 1990s persuaded BT to renovate, and even re-install, some of the old K6s. but this was all too late for the poor K8, now so rare as to be of special interest to the twentieth century society and a focus for one of their at risk campaigns. link.
at the last count only a handful of K8 remain. estimates vary from 12 to 20. if you see one, give us a ring and let us know!
ps. a note on Gilbert Scott.
Giles Gilbert Scott(1880 –1960) was last in a distinguished line of architects. His grandfather was Sir George Gilbert Scott, who built the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras station and the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, whilst his father after a promising start was to languish in asylums and family hideaways for much of his adulthood.
Our Scott is famous for his blending of Gothic tradition with modernism. he was to become a towering figure in 20th century architecture, creating iconic buildings wherever he went. he was RIBA president for its centenary year 1933, completed battersea power station in 1933, the new bodleian library in 1937-40, rebuilt the commons chamber at westminster palace after the 1941 bombing had destroyed it, and designed bankside power station now the magnificent Tate Modern.
yet he is perhaps best-known for his work on Liverpool Cathedral. when the competition for a 'Design for a twentieth century cathedral' was announced in 1902, he was a junior employee at his firm and an inexperienced 21 year old - he had previously only successfully designed a small pipe rack! nevertheless he was one of the five architects selected for the second round of the competition (his employer's designs were rejected) and subsequently went on to win in 1903. it was to become his life’s work which he worked on until his death in 1960; the cathedral was finished in 1978. He is now buried with his wife outside the main entrance to Liverpool Cathedral where a K6 can also be found installed in his honour.
Gilbert Scott & his K Series, RIP, 1980's
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Mash & Air 40 Chorlton St,
POD, Marc Newson and Harrison Ince , 1996 - 2000.
Much to opening fanfare at the tail end of 1996 , Oliver Peyton 's Manchester venture is the corner of Canal st and chorlton Derwent Against the City 's Prevailing Aesthetics of bare girders and industrial chic. INSTEAD the owner of London 's feted Atlantic Bar and Grill and Coast opted for cool Swinging Sixties London with brash orange and lime tones , Circle & porthole reasons . viewed: Either at the time as a refreshing change to What Was Already Becoming a Mancunian cliche , or the ill regarded pretension of a pushy outsider , we pay homage to a long overdue slice of a Short Lived streamlined computer -generated futurism ; nineties chic with joe a hint of 1930 's ocean liner .
peyton Took the restaurant scene by storm in 1994 When He Opened the Atlantic Bar & Grill in London in 1994 and in Mayfair Coast in 1995 . Mash and Air in Manchester Opened in 1996 , Followed by a London Mash Isola in 1998 and in Knightsbridge in 1999. His vibrant 170- seat Atlantic Bar & Grill Was year overnight success with STI art deco makeover , downstairs ballroom and modern British menu, and it Launched the concept of the style bar. ADOPTED Coast meanwhile has more feminine , style and maritime ET Quickly Became Known 've Loved Much For architectural and design savvy 've Loved for catering .
a warehouse conversion at the height of 90's ' gaychester ' right in the Heart of the Village , Mash & Air in Manchester Was Entirely different year to the animals Already Thriving local scene . it one step Derwent Than the Rest , Offering Simply not a bar with dining Tacked drank a ' oven eating and drinking experience level . " Commissioned Peyton Harrison Ince ( Whose portfolio includes Mick Hucknall 's boat and a local chain tampopo ) to work alongside furniture and interior designer Marc Newson and Andrew Martin realized Loved to futuristic ambitions . Designed around a microbrewery , Which pink -through the full height of the building , visible from Portcullis Every level through ITS 's and jaunty porthole , the new design Simply No Paid to heed ITS historic fabric . THE LOWEST level Was a bar , with Two Separate restaurants, Including Mash brewery for casual dining, and a private dining room . Air is situated " Was The Highest level - a ' dining delight ' with sunken booths and panoramic vistas over Manchester ...
By The Turn of the Century all one aim of trail - blazing Loved Opening of the '90s HAD closed . Mash and Air hatches battened down for good STI in 2000 and Still boarded up and empty lies today, barely Remembered It Seems , for all the Hullabaloo in ITS heyday .
here's What They Said in the independent soon after ITS grand opening -
Caroline Stacey
Saturday, 11 January 1997
Just before Christmas , Oliver Peyton , owner of Two London SUCH gaffe - the Atlantic Bar and Grill and Coast - Opened Mash & Air in Manchester. Launches like this do not Happen Every month , OR Events year , here , has yet week after the opening junket, the number of Customers Was Surprisingly sparse . Maybe are harder to impress Mancunian .
After all, There Is civic pride and the tradition of Dissent to Uphold . Though eating and drinking lags well behind , designer bars are Ecu Two year in a city that's Been Transformed by EC Funding . Purpose, barely off the starting block , Mash & Air Quickly impressed me . The design , by Australian Marc Newson , Is in a similar fashion to Sixties - Futurist Coast . And it's beautiful . The wide -windowed Victorian mill, in the middle of the gay quarter , up steps and Entered IS -through glass doors with handles like jumbo orange taps . You arrive in a bar -meets - painted pistachio lime -green ( Even the floor) , and furnished with Duplo for giants .
The name Mash & Air horns from internships in the brewing process , and a central well That Appears To Run From The Top To The Bottom Of The building , visible -through huge porthole , houses painted orange brewing equipment . When it's working, this contemporary looking Brilliantly engine room - a canny tribute to a place That Understands the attraction of manufacturing like no other - Will Own ITS pump out beer . Upstairs , more green and orange Hamid , Is The Mash brewery, with pizzas from a wood - fired oven with a Litany of Scattered Californian ingredients : winter mushroom with honey- roast parsnips , spinach and vegetable chips, for example , and salads and grills.
Air, the restaurant is the top floor , Is All breezy blue, royal and pale . By day, It Was so pure and new light and it appeared Rather ethereal . Any satanic darkness Ever Had the mill has been " air - brushed out Effectively . Mash & Air and panders to a predisposition for designer tags, with nickable " mashtrays " and a Bill That Comes in a blue envelope with "the damage "written on it . Even if it Were not for the food, Mash & Air would Still Be a triumph .
visit for more pictures ince harrison here.
RIP - Mash & Air - 2000
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March - April 2010
Special Odeon
This month in Light of the narrow window of opportunity to put pressure on the planning department to Reconsider Proposed demolition of the Long the Odeon Cinema on Oxford Rd, we are dedicating o March - April Features of the Month to the sorry story of this fine picture palace.
RIP - GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN ~
Back in January 2010 in Our tribute to the city 's Picture Palaces , we have featured the Odeon o At Risk Gem of the Month Little Imagining it Might Reach the critical list in Three short months ! Sadly here we are ....
Nb - The planning permission for the demolition of the Odeon , Oxford Street, Manchester is about to run out . The developer Needs To Reapply . We can all put pressure on the planners to reject this. We Now Have a second chance to stop the demolition .
You Still Have Time to how the application. We all Need to how the application - online or in writing . Clickhereto go to the application . Many thanks !
The Odeon Cinema formerly The Paramount Oxford St ,
F Verity and S. Beverley, 1930 - closed September 2004 .
The Odeon , now lying stripped bare and hollow , Opened with pomp and ceremony Suitable , all complete with fake art deco stylized flattened pilasters and capitals , on Monday 16 October 1930 as the Paramount Theatre, flashy American import to Oxford St.
More Than Other lavish and luxurious Manchester goings, the Paramount soon Became a Mecca for picturegoers , regularly scooping up all the biggest and best new releases, Especially Those From The Paramount studios , and Being the first to offer innovations have SUCH techicolour and wide screen .
By 1940 howeve Paramount HAD sold off Some of Its UK cinemas to the Odeon circuit and so it Suddenly Became the Odeon , = remaining one of the MOST popular city center cinemas well Into the 1960's , Successfully Complementing STI screenings with occasional live concerts , SUCH as the Beach Boys , Until ITS long , slow demise started " in earnest in the seventies . Like Many Other picture houses, This Was That era saw the successive year Attempt to lure audience, seduced Into home entertainment with the introduction of television, Back Into the cinema . IT WAS twinned in 1973 , triplexed in 1979 , with a furnace Further screens created in 1992 . With adaptation EACH There Was a commensurate loss in the original architectural grandeur and intégrité of the design. By the end of Its Life Resulting the seven screens Were No bigger than Many suburban sitting-rooms and the introduction of the mega complex in the Nineties Were The last straw for the old guard . The cinema was closed in September 2004 due to competition from the AMC Great Northern 16 Which HAD nearby Opened in December 2001 .
Long boarded up, its not yet nominally Assignation , goal in reality it 's a dead man walking ...
The Story Does not End There . Earmarked for demolition and redevelopment Into the inevitable office block with ground floor retail bad at having more gold bar / restaurant uses , a campaign to save the Odeon led by the Cinema Theatre Association erlands and Sweden . Finally in a hotly Contested decision , Français Heritage Dismissed "any last minute Attempts to list the building, standing by Their decision Earlier That the building HAD Been Too Badly mutilated in the course of Its Life To merit it .
For the long and Tragic Saga Of The Attempt to save the Odeon from demolition , read over the emotional and informative trail of comments hand below the posting, Taking us from 2004 up to the present sorry state of affairs , yet try "any of Aidan O'Rourke Manchester 's popular forums for the general mood of Manchester 's Citizens , Many of Whom the ACKNOWLEDGE Difficulties and tensions inherent in nostalgia and Marrying cultural inheritance in contemporary With The Needs Of An Ever Changing urban environment .
***Once again MMS IS Indebted to far more voices and narrator on this topic Learned Than Ourselves . We Have FOLLOWING Shamelessly adapted the illuminating source -
Derek J Southall Magic in the Dark, Cinema Treasures informative website, and David Slack 's reminiscences are 70mm.com .
Over on the Flickr words and gorgeous pictures of woody1969 Highly recommended are .
RIP - Odeon Cinema - September 2004
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Covered Parker Street Bus Terminal
Piccadilly Gardens
The architecture of transportation terminals Sometimes invisible can prononcer. We use bus , train and ferry stations frequently aim Often When We're tired , in a hurry or stressed. Driving Along motorways transiting Is a similar experience - just going Through Attending but not to WHERE we are. We do not see we look purpose ; and that's a pity Because Some really good buildings - the Architecture of Mobility - can vanish Before We realized just how darned good They Were .
Take Piccadilly Bus Station in Parker Street . No, not the bleak windswept collection Of Bus Stop Now order a street -long glass galleria Which ran from Portland Street to Almost Mosley Street. It Opened on December 4 , 1958 , and Lasted Until the Metrolink tram started. It Was a Vast Completely ENCLOSED island , 577ft long and 28ft wide, with An Enquiry Office , a sweet and tobacco store and a first floor staff canteen . Those were the days When a bus crews Expected mug of sweet tea, and IGC has a plate of hot food canteen Between shifts . If They did not get it the TGWU would call a strike.
The glass frames Were modular , based on a classic elevation of 1:1.5:4:2 . The ground level frames in 50s Were colored tones of cool blue and lemon yellow. The plan - with a canteen Raised In The center - was with Alternating Symmetrical Levels VARYING one roof module up or down. Subtle stuff. The interior was very light and very carefully with signé route numbers and destinations . You could " shelter , Perhaps smoking a Woodbine or reading the Evening Chronicle, Waiting for the bus to Corporation No. 1 Gatley , in a fine essay of glass modernist modular design - the hub of city transportation network efficient year . Not bad, eh ?
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