Gateway House in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, is a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

office block above a row of shops designed by Richard Seifert & Partners and completed in 1969. It replaced a row of 19th-century railway warehouses on the approach to

Manchester Piccadilly station Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

. The building, which differed from much of Seifert's contemporary work in that it departed from the bare concrete

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

style which had become his trademark, was nicknamed the "lazy S" and was reputedly designed as a doodle.

Reception

It is considered to be one of Siefert's most loveable buildings, commanding respect from Clare Hartwell, who described it as

Future

The building was bought by Realty Estates in 2008. Hodder + Partners won a competition to redevelop Gateway House in 2009. The plans are for the landmark structure to be converted into a hotel at a cost of £20 million. An office block with ground floor retail space on Ducie Street and a gym behind the Seifert building would be the second phase of the development. In December 2011, the £35 million redevelopment scheme by Hodder + Partners for Realty Estates, was given planning approval by

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

. Despite planning approval, redevelopment has not started. In June 2014, the building was sold to international property group, LaSalle for £26 million. A new let was agreed with

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

and work could begin on renovating the building with a new hotel operator. Refurbishment commenced in October 2015 and was completed in early 2017. A major redevelopment of the neighbouring Piccadilly Station and the surrounding area was proposed to complement the planned construction of the

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a Spur line, branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to ...

(HS2) railway line to Manchester. The project would have involved the construction of a large new canopy over the HS2 platforms and the creation of a new entrance to the station. As part of the HS2 redevelopment plans it was likely that Gateway House would be demolished. The construction of HS2 to Manchester was cancelled in October 2023.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

{{coord, 53.4784564, -2.2318447, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Manchester Office buildings completed in 1969 Modernist architecture in England