How Curtain Walling Can Give Manchester Visual Variety
Few urban landscapes anywhere have changed as much in recent years as central Manchester. The plethora of skyscrapers has dramatically altered the skyline and many more promise to do so in the next few years.
Until the start of the 21st century, Manchester was a relatively low-rose city. Although the 387 ft CIS building had been the tallest office block in Europe when completed in 1962, it remained the tallest in the city until the Beetham Tower overtook it in 2005.
The latter did not hold the record for long as Tower A at Deansgate Square topped out at 659 ft in 2018. But the four towers in the cluster, while each a different height, have been criticised for their similar design. This contrasts with cities like London, where the skyscrapers are known by their nicknames from the Gherkin to the Cheese Grater.
However, that is where both the shape of buildings and the use of innovative curtain walling may help, not least as the race is on to set a new record for Manchester’s tallest building.
Renaker’s planned 71-storey Lighthouse will be 699 ft, while Salboy Group plans to build even higher, recently revealing its plans for a 76-storey Viadux 2 tower that will dwarf the neighbouring Beetham Tower. It means the race is on to be the tallest, which could see the Lighthouse hold the record for a short time if the Salboy proposal is approved.
Viadux 1 already offers a zig-zagging ‘ripple effect’ exterior, which may please some of the architectural critics, while the planned new building offers a banded exterior appearance that is far from opaque. By contrast, it is the illuminated top floors of the Lighthouse – which will give the building its name – that look set to be its only stand-out feature.
While the biggest focus will no doubt be on the buildings racing to be the tallest, variety has emerged elsewhere, not least in the form of Three60, which at 505 ft has replaced Birmingham’s Rotunda as the tallest cylindrical tower outside London.
Perhaps ironically, this was designed by SimpsonHaugh, the architects whose identikit design at Deansgate Square has come in for so much criticism.