The Mathematics Building 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, was a university building which housed the Mathematics Department of the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

and briefly the newly amalgamated

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from 1968 to 2004. The building consisted of a three-storey podium and an 18-storey, tall tower. It was designed by local architect Scherrer and Hicks with a combination of 1960s-

brutalism 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 ...

and international style modernism architecture. It was demolished in 2005 as the maths department moved to the Alan Turing Building on Upper Brook Street.

Architecture

The building was constructed in 1968 and designed by local architect firm, Scherrer and Hicks. The tower had two contrasting façades in juxtaposition; the west-facing side had a concrete brutalist exterior while the east side was clad in windows, which jutted out at varied angles. Both façades represented the current architectural movements of the era; modernism with flush glass panes and brutalism, marked by the use of concrete.

History

In 2004, the

was formed with the merger of the

and

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...

. The newly formed university began a programme of renovating its campus buildings and subsequently the Maths Tower was deemed 'unfit for purpose'. News of the planned demolition saddened some who hoped the tower would be renovated and maintained for the future. '' Urban Realm'' magazine spoke in praise of the Maths Tower and describing it as an architecturally bright building in a dreary campus: "what you will mainly see are university buildings totally lacking imagination and style. Of almost all the university buildings of the last forty years, only the Maths Tower has grace and scale. A pity then, that it is unfit for purpose". The School of Mathematics moved first into temporary buildings (named Lamb and Newmann) and retained use of the Maths and Social Sciences Building while they awaited a move into the Alan Turing Building on Upper Brook Street in 2007. The site of the former tower is now occupied by a £55 million rotunda building called University Place, which houses a number of lecture theatres. 17 New Wakefield Street, completed in 2012, shares some architectural features with the Maths Tower.

References

External links

Mathematics Tower Photo Gallery
{{coord, 53.46701, N, 2.23335, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in Manchester Former buildings and structures in Manchester Former skyscrapers History of Manchester Buildings and structures demolished in 2005