Guardian Assurance Building, 25 Cross Street/Chapel Walk, Manchester

The Guardian Assurance Company which has its Manchester office in the old building on the site, purchased the property for the purpose of erecting more adequate premises. The building now being put up in two sections, one of which is already completed, is a five storey structure of fine proportions and strong line. The entire ground floor and basement will be used by the company, and a separate entrance to the ground floor premises will be provided at the Chapel Walks corner. The rest of the building will be let off as offices, divides to suit the tenants. This portion will also have its own entrance, giving into a handsome entrance hall with figured terrago floor and glass-tiled walls. The electric passenger lift opens off this hall. The new premises are carried out in Portland stone with black granite base. The exterior walls, incidentally will carry three sculptured shields by Mr Floyd, one of them already in position. The building is of steel construction, with concrete floors and a flat roof. The main staircase will have walls of glass-tiling, and special non-slip treads. The central heating will be on the steam system. All the woodwork and screens are being done in mahogany. The architect for the structure is Mr. H. S. Fairhurst, of Manchester.  [Manchester City News Building trades Number March 1927 Page ]

NEW OFFICE BUILDINGS IN MANCHESTER  (III)–  Guardian Assurance. Professor C H Reilly - There is a very modern note about this building. It disdains most of the ordinary furnishings and delicacies, and obviously aims first at strength and directness of expression. That is very laudable. We are all a little tired in these days of unnecessary architectural trimmings. The difficulty is, when one begins to leave things out, to know where to stop. If one can have so bald an attic storey as this building has, yet rather subtly modelled, why has an elaborate cornice and entablature with all the well-known features immediately under it? Surely these could have been simplified almost to a band as has the cornice above the ground storey. Apart from the main cornice and its appurtenances, the design seems to me to be very strong and satisfactory until one suddenly comes upon the little figures, charming in themselves, which have been planted on the strong rustication. I suggest they would have looked better in bronze as furniture rather than an integral part of the stonework. Much the same applies to the decorated central window of the first floor. There is a delicacy about this which is meant, I expect, to act as a foil to the severity of the rest of the building. Like the carved figures, however, it is so different in scale and feeling that it seems to be there by accident rather than belonging to the structure. For the rest, the building has considerable power. One has to glance down the street at the gay Lloyd’s Bank to realise how strong it is. The plain deep reveals to the windows suggesting solidity and cubic content have a great deal to do with this. The ground floor is particularly effective with its deeply marked horizontal joints, and the strong black base on which the building stands adds to this. [Manchester Guardian 11 August 1928 page 12]

Reference        Manchester City News Building trades Number March 1927 Page
Reference        Builder 22 April 1927 Page 671
Reference        Manchester Guardian 11 August 1928 page 12 with illustration– Professor Reilly