Building Name

Warehouse Church Street Manchester

Date
1928
Street
Church Street
District/Town
Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Client
Pall Mall Property Company
Work
New Build
Contractor
C H Normanton and Son

NEW MANCHESTER WAREHOUSE - PLANNING FOR EFFICIENCY - One of the largest warehouse structures undertaken for some years in Manchester is now in course of erection on a central site in Church-street between Joiner-street and Birchin Lane. This building is intended specially for home trade firms, and has been designed for the Pall Mall Property Company by Messrs. Francis Jones and Dalrymple, architects, of Manchester. It includes several interesting features facilitating the work of the tenant firms.

The building has ten floors, a basement and sub-basement. The site it occupies is bisected parallel to Church-street by Chapel Square, and the building therefore takes the form of two separate blocks joined at every floor by three ten-feet gangways. In actual operation it will be found that this division of the building makes for no restriction at all as regards interior working, but it gives very big advantages in the way of extra lighting and the use of Chapel Square for loading arrangements. Special loading facilities have been provided in this central street on both sides of the warehouse, and tenants will be in an unusually happy position in their possession of what will for practical purposes, be a private loading street. Five high speed electric goods lifts and two high-speed electric passenger lifts are being installed, so that there will be no lack of transport facilities of every kind in the building.

The warehouse is of steel frame construction with brick facings, the frontage to Church-street being faced with Empire stone. The facade design makes interesting use of the fenestration to achieve its effect, and manages to give a nicely artistic appearance without making any but the slightest use of ornament. The maximum degree of fireproof quality is incorporated in the structure. The floors and the staircases are all of concrete (though wood block floors are laid for office accommodation). Fireproof doors are installed and the invaluable Asprinkler@ fire system is to be fitted. This method, as is generally known, automatically gives the alarm and also automatically releases water sprinklers on any dangerous rise in temperature taking place. Such modern features as metal windows are incorporated throughout, and, in general equipment the building strikes and ultra-modern note. The central heating, for example, for which the plant is installed in the sub-basement, will make use of cheap grade oil fuel instead of coal, thus abolishing a constant source of dirt and dust and releasing much storage space. The building is also equipped with a vacuum cleaning plant, which will put some modernity into a task invariably carried out in the most primitive of styles. The sanitary installation includes separate installations on every floor. The actual floor space available for tenants, exclusive of lifts and staircases is 8,940 square yards. The portion of the structure already completed is tenanted, and it is hoped to complete the whole building at a very early date.

Reference           Manchester City News Building Trades Number. 24 March 1928