Offices and Shops. Corporation Street Mark Lane and Withy Grove (The Printworks)

Yet another step towards building modernisation in Manchester's main thoroughfares has been taken with the construction at Withy Grove - Corporation-street corner of a great six-storey shop and office building. This building is a completion of the Allied House, the headquarters of the Allied Newspapers' organisation. The main part of the structure was completed last year, and the whole building forms the largest newspaper office premises in the world.

The new building joins the main structure by means of a deep bridge over Mark Lane. It occupies the whole of the island site, an area of some five thousand square feet. The exterior, carried out in Portland stone, with brown granite base, is designed in conformity with the main structure on typically modern lines, relying for effect on good proportion and fine stonework. Over 1,100 tons of stone is used in the frontage. The complete scheme is the work of Mr A. Rangeley, L.R.I.B.A., of Manchester. The major part of the ground floor has been secured by the District Bank, which will occupy the whole of it from the entrance in Corporation-street round to Mark Lane in Withy Grove. Six shops have been provided for in the remainder of the Corporation-street frontage, each shop being of large dimensions and having a large showroom or stockroom in the rear. The main entrance to the building, giving on to a hall containing electric passenger lift and a wide staircase, faced with marble, is between the bank premises and the group of shops. The five upper storeys will contain 150 large, well-lighted rooms. The five hundred yards of corridors are floored with oak blocks, the floor finish in the offices being deal boarding. Each office will have ample natural light and ventilation, two large areas, faced with white-glazed bricks being provided to several floors. Heating is supplied by steam from three large Lancashire boilers in the basement. [Manchester City News  Saturday 13 December 1930]

New premises for the District Bank Limited form part of the large building erected by the Allied Newspapers Limited. The portion at the corner of the building, with separate entrance and entirely cut off from the rest of the structure will be occupied by the Bank, which already has temporary offices there. The banking room is a large lofty one, and has been treated differently from the rest of the building. The room is twenty-eight feet high, and has a nicely modelled ceiling, and a marble floor to the public space, which has a mahogany dado to match the fittings up to the height of the window-sills. In the basement there is an adequate strong room and storage for books. The internal work was done by the bank architects, Messrs. Francis Jones and H. A Dalrymple. [Manchester City News  Saturday 13 December 1930]

Reference    Manchester City News  Saturday 13 December 1930