Physical Laboratory Owens College Manchester

THE NEW PHYSICAL LABORATORY OF THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER - The laboratory, of which the foundation stone has been laid on the 25th anniversary of the occupation of the present Owens College buildings, will be the largest and most completely equipped in this country. It stands on a separate plot of ground adjoining the Owens College site, and consists of a main building and a large annexe, the latter being more especially intended for electro technical work. The principal building is 100 feet long, and over 60 feet wide, and consists of a basement and three stories. The cost of the buildings, with fittings and new apparatus, is estimated at ,30,000. It is intended to have, at least, one room set aside for constant temperature work, and to establish a small plant for the production of low temperatures. An electro  technical laboratory will be added, in which large currents will be available for electric furnaces. One of the features of the laboratory will be a carefully planned system of ventilation, combined with an attempt to exclude dust, as far as possible, from all rooms, and especially from the instrument cases. The architect is Mr. J. W. Beaumont, who, before finally drawing the plans, was sent by the council of the Owens College to visit the principal modern laboratories of Germany.

NEW PHYSICAL LABORATORY, OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER - The new physical laboratory at the Owens College, Manchester, has been designed by Mr. J. W. Beaumont, architect, of Manchester, and has cost about £23,000; another £10,000 will be spent in equipment. Attached to the physical laboratory there is an electrotechnical laboratory, which will form a memorial of the late Dr. John Hopkinson. The laboratories occupy a prominent position in Coupland street, and are connected with the college by an underground passage. Red brick and white stone are the materials that have been used in the construction, on a site measuring about 100 feet by 60 feet There are about forty rooms. Besides those intended in the first place for ordinary teaching, elementary and advanced, there are others for special research and for electro-chemical work. Glazed bricks have been used in nearly all the rooms for the walls. -Appliances are provided for filtration of the air. At the top of the building there is an observatory fitted with a 10-in. telescope. The building will be supplied throughout with compressed air up to four atmospheres, and with steam for experimental purposes. The electric light will be used throughout the buildings. There is also an electric lift Provision has been made for a photographic laboratory and for a large Rowland's grating, used for spectroscopic investigation. [Builder 7 July 1900 Page 16]

Reference    Building News 6 January 1899 Page 4
Reference    Builder 7 July 1900 Page 16