Mechanics Institution 103 Princess Street (formerly David Street) Manchester
On an island site No. 103 (Princess Street) is the former Mechanics' Institute of 1854-5 by J. E. Gregan. The institution had been founded in 1824 and this building was commissioned to replace premises on Cooper Street which had become too small. This refined palazzo was Gregan's last work. After his death in 1855 construction was supervised by W.R. Corson, with whom Gregan had trained in Scotland. It set a standard for the scale of the commercial warehouses which were to follow, but the nobility and purity of the design sets it apart from its neighbours. The proportions, with three tall storeys with a basement and blind attic storey, also contrast with the five storey norm for the warehouses. Brick with stone dressings, central entrance and first floor windows with segmental pediments. The site is awkwardly shaped and the parallelogram plan is stepped at the sides to make maximum use of the space and light. The arcaded first floor windows on the Major Street elevation mark the position of the lecture hall The interior has been altered, but the elegant entrance hall remains, and a full height cantilevered stone staircase with an ironwork balustrade rises at the rear. [Clair Hartwell Pevsner Architectural Guides - Manchester Page 196]
Reference Manchester Guardian 28 September 1853 page 4
Reference Manchester Guardian 4 November 1854 page 11 – contracts
Reference Manchester Courier 9 December 1854 page 6 – description
Reference Manchester Times 6 December 1854 page 8 – description + sketch plan
Reference Manchester Guardian 9 December 1854 page 8 – extensive description
Reference Manchester Guardian 23 June 1855 page 8 - corner stone
Reference Manchester Courier 24 June 1855 page 9 - corner stone
Reference The Builder 1854: 645; 55: 308, 498.
Reference Manchester Guardian 27 December 1855 page 3 - progress
Reference Manchester Guardian 25 June 1856 page 3]
Reference Clair Hartwell Pevsner Architectural Guides - Manchester Page 196
