Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee Building, Manchester

Building in Manchester, England

53°28′31″N 2°14′32″W / 53.4752°N 2.2422°W / 53.4752; -2.2422Construction started1896Inaugurated1898Renovated2015OwnerHelical Bar PLCTechnical detailsFloor count6Design and constructionArchitect(s)J. Gibbons SankeyMain contractorCapital Properties (UK) LtdDesignations
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTootal, Broadhurst and Lee BuildingDesignated2 October 1974Reference no.1271294

The Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee Building (currently marketed as The Tootal Buildings[1]) at No. 56 Oxford Street, in Manchester, England, is a late Victorian warehouse and office block built in a neo-Baroque style for Tootal Broadhurst Lee, a firm of textile manufacturers.

History

It was designed by J. Gibbons Sankey and constructed between 1896 and 1898.[2] It has been designated a Grade II* listed building.[3]

Nikolaus Pevsner's The Buildings of England describes the warehouse as "large, in red brick stripped with orange terracotta, but comparatively classical".[2] It has a "massive central round-headed doorway with banded surround and cartouche dated 1896, set in (an) architrave of coupled banded columns and (a) broken pediment".[3]

The interior has been redesigned, but a First World War memorial by Henry Sellers has been retained, being "marble, with a niche from which the figure (has been) stolen".[4]

Behind it and not visible from Oxford Street is Lee House, the stub of what would have been the tallest building in Europe at 217 ft (66 m), a 17-storey warehouse of the same firm (planned 1928; part completed 1931).[5] Both Churchgate House and Lee House are on the north bank of the Rochdale Canal; Great Bridgewater Street is immediately to the north of them.

Occupants

As of 2024[update], the building hosts the headquarters of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, including the office of the Mayor of Greater Manchester.[6][7]

See also

  • iconGreater Manchester portal

Notes

  1. ^ "The Tootal Buildings - Helical PLC". Helical PLC.
  2. ^ a b The Buildings of England: Lancashire- Manchester and the South East, p. 321
  3. ^ a b Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee Building 56 - Manchester - Greater Manchester - England | British Listed Buildings
  4. ^ Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester, p. 182
  5. ^ Sharp, Dennis, et al. (1969) Manchester. London: Studio Vista; p. 33
  6. ^ "Region's 'super council' to get £2m city centre headquarters". 23 September 2016.
  7. ^ "GMCA: Our address". greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Retrieved 2 March 2024.

References

  • Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew & Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Manchester and the South East (2004) Yale University Press
  • Hartwell, Clare, Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester (2002) Yale University Press
  • British Listed Buildings
  • Churchgate & Lee House Website

External links

  • The Tootal Buildings

53°28′31″N 2°14′32″W / 53.4752°N 2.2422°W / 53.4752; -2.2422


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