The Stockport Pyramid, otherwise known as the Co-operative Bank Pyramid or simply The Pyramid is a commercial office building in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

History

The Pyramid was intended to be the 'signature building' within a larger development scheme that originally included multiple pyramid-shaped buildings. Sources vary on the number of pyramids that were originally planned, some state two further pyramids would be built, whilst others state four more pyramids were planned. Construction was completed in 1992. During construction, the developers went into administration and the building was repossessed by

The Co-operative Banking Group Co-operative Banking Group Limited (originally Co-operative Financial Services) was a UK-based banking and insurance company and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group. Established in 2002, its head office was located at the CIS Tower ...

, who had financed the development. Between the completion of the building in 1992 and the occupancy by the Co-operative in 1995, the building was empty. The building was occupied by The Cooperative Bank from 1995 until they relocated to

NOMA Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma Distr ...

in Manchester city centre in 2018. Several failed development projects near the site, including the pyramid's own unoccupancy immediately after construction and the Cooperative Bank's near-collapse in 2013, led to a superstitious consideration that the site was 'cursed'. The curse was announced as 'lifted' when nearby developments resumed in 2005 with the sale of office blocks in the surrounding business park. The surrounding business park has been referred to as 'The Stopfordian Valley of the Kings', Kings Reach, or Kings Valley. In 2019, the building was bought by the Saudi Arabian investment company Eamar Developments after being advertised for sale in the summer of 2018 for around £4.5 million. Eamar Developments have planned to let the site as office space after refurbishment.

Design

The pyramid has been described as '

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

', 'aspirational' and an 'incongruous structure' compared to the

industrial era The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

buildings commonly found in Stockport. Contrary to it commonly being referred to as a pyramid, the

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

claims that the building's 'shape is more accurately described as a ziggurat'.

References

{{Reflist

External links

pyramidstockport.com/
Pyramids Buildings and structures in Stockport Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport