Information, planning application, renders, images, and pictures taken today below.

The pulling power of Manchester as a conference destination is set for a boost, as the construction of The University of Manchester's new 1,100-seater auditorium has just begun.

Based at Oxford Road, probably Manchester's busiest street and just a few minutes's walk from the city centre, this flagship venue will comprise an 1100-seat semi-circular auditorium, designed equipped with the most advanced technology throughout to meet the demands of the modern meetings industry. A key feature of this new theatre is that it will be capable of dividing into a 600 and a 400-seat theatre offering maximum flexibility to organisers.

In addition to the auditorium, the building will also house a number of seminar rooms and spacious restaurant and exhibition facilities.

The cost of the venue is expected to surpass £60m, and the construction of the building is expected to be completed by February 2008.

077568/FO/2005/C2 http://www.publicaccess.manchester.gov.uk/publicaccess/dc/dcapplication/application_detailview.aspx?CASENO=IPMYUDBC70000&module=P1&hidereturn=true

The University Of Manchester

John McAslan & Partners http://www.mcaslan.co.uk/frame.php?seite=intro&proj_id=undefined&id=&flashversion=5

Junction Of Wilton Street And Oxford Road
City

Erection of 1000 seat lecture theatre with catering facilities for university , erection of new school of nursing and institute for health services building in 2 x 7 storey blocks and erection of 15 storey, 300 bedroom student accommodation

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/axxx.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/scan4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/scan2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/scan1-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/scan3.jpg

Pictures taken today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture121.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture119.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture106.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture118.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture116-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture115.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture113.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture112.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture110.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture111.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture109.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture108.jpg

Planning application.

Cheers for the update jerb , ive not been up Oxford Rd for ages , its really coming along great , Is Manchester Uni going to have a huge increase in students in the next few years , because there's a lot of student accommodation being built , with this and the 20 storey Berry St block .

The rumour's of Manc Uni selling off them vile blocks on Mancuian Way , might come true in the not to distant future :)

Cheers for the update jerb , ive not been up Oxford Rd for ages , its really coming along great , Is Manchester Uni going to have a huge increase in students in the next few years , because there's a lot of student accommodation being built , with this and the 20 storey Berry St block .

The rumour's of Manc Uni selling off them vile blocks on Mancuian Way , might come true in the not to distant future :)

No problem H. Scan is definitely worth keeping an eye on over the next year or two.

A few updated pictures from pit-yacker. Enjoy his other Manchester University pics.

I'll take some new pictures next week.

The cores are rising.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pit-yacker/246961217/in/set-72057594112612562/

Will the cladding be concretion or metalalic?

I'll ask next week.

If it hasn’t changed since I was told; the drum is going to be zinc (various other materials were preferred but too expensive) and think the yellowish clad is concrete panels.

Highriser its not really due to an increased student intake, the university is essentially creating excess so that older accommodation can be replaced or renewed e.g. tower above refectory is to come down, and SCAN flats a direct replacement for this; but they are also looking at options for their various Fallowfield and Rusholme sites.

The rumour's of Manc Uni selling off them vile blocks on Mancuian Way , might come true in the not to distant future :)

I heard that in the long term, many of the old UMIST blocks will be demolished and the land sold off. Replacements would go up on further down Oxford Road, where the land is much cheaper. They can then design buildings that are shorter, with larger floor spaces that lend themselves better to shifting large amounts of students on every hour.

MSS, Chandos, The Mill, part of Faraday (I think), Wright Robinson. Basically many of the buildings along the East/South East of the old UMIST campus could go. This sounded like it was many years off, though.

I do wish they were building the drum back from the road a little, in something other then grey, and with a curve on the building behind to "relate" to - like the Central Library and Town Hall extension.

It's zinc. Not 'grey'.

How's it going to weather?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/scan2.jpg

edit:

http://www.infolink.com.au/articles/7E/0C00EF7E.aspx

Will it have some kind of coating to maintain the "as built" metallic look?

"Natural zinc has a shiny metallic grey appearance, which after around eighteen months becomes dark grey and matt..."

It's zinc. Not 'grey'.

So this sort of thing?

http://www.nyu.cz/sviews/img/S2005/Berlin8.jpg

http://www.bati-index.com/redaction_images/2907/zoom/01.jpg

I’ve been told it will be more like the bottom picture, the dull un-shiny sort.

I’ve been told it will be more like the bottom picture, the dull un-shiny sort.

The shiny Jewish Museum stuff could've looked quite striking on a curved structure. Instead, it could look quite cheap and tinfoil-like. Like the stuff on the Eighth Day veggie place on Oxford Rd...

http://www.eighth-day.co.uk/images/unfin.jpg

Whether it ends up striking or shabby will be down to the quality of the metal used, the standard of the architects details for its attachment and the quality of the workmanship. This stuff is easy to do bad, dam hard to look good; nearly always warps, leaks or tarnishes horribly. One of the materials that were ruled out was a very high gloss black brick, I think that would have been far superior.

The thing with University buildings though, is that it doesn't matter what they look like so long as they are entirely functional. Cladding it in a more expensive material just to make it look better isn't something the University would ever consider. I bet they've built it with intention to replace in 40 years time, and that that option is cheaper than building something that will last.

The thing with University buildings though, is that it doesn't matter what they look like so long as they are entirely functional. Cladding it in a more expensive material just to make it look better isn't something the University would ever consider. I bet they've built it with intention to replace in 40 years time, and that that option is cheaper than building something that will last.


Sorry can't agree with that.

MIB is/looks superb. No expense spared. AMPS is the same. Look at the cladding.(see pictures) Both are quality developments. Hopefully SCAN will turn out to be the same. BTW. If SCAN is going to be used for prestigious international conferences, it will have to look good inside and 'out'.

If SCAN is going to be used for prestigious international conferences, it will have to look good inside and 'out'.

That's what I hoped - seeing as it's promoted as the flagship building in the Uni's current regeneration. I just hope they haven't down-spec'd it too much...

You're probably aware I was pissed off about losing rather than reusing the Maths Tower, which I always saw as a kind of a thrusting inspirational symbol. Like a Tower of Science, now torn down. It's maybe more important than it ought to be, but I did have lectures there, and I feel chary about the "dumbing" down of science we're seeing in schools and the closure of eg Chemistry Departments at various Unis.

Because of this I'm more sensitive about this replacement. Like I was saying I don't like the closeness to the road and the way it "relates" to the rest of the development. If the zinc ends up looking dull and grey and thin-warpy-tinfoil cheap, I'll be really pissed off. Buildings matter, inside and out. That's why we're all here.

High gloss black brick sounds nice Architecty. For myself I don't know why they didn't go for maybe a buff or yellow brick to tie in with the Main Building and the 4+1 buildings behind.

Hallo! :wave:

Just nipped into Fuel in Withington for a quick butchers. Unfortunately my ISP/broadband is still down. Another 1-2 weeks apparently. B*******!

Just to let you know I've got a new/updated render of the Scan building and the blocks behind it with new cladding. It's a vast improvement on the original cladding. As soon as my broadband is working I'll upload the render/image.

Bye! :)

I pass this site almost every day and I have to say they're building it fast!

looks like the fucking drum pub in stretford, either that or a toilet roll

jrb, can I ask what camera you used to take those pictures at the beginning of this thread?

Taken Yesterday

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/legin3/dec047.jpg

From behind...

http://pichotel.com/pic/4750g5mlQ/100211.jpg

http://pichotel.com/pic/4750g5mlQ/100212.jpg

nice shot of work in progress MP.

I pass this site almost every day and I have to say they're building it fast!

It is going up well fast innit. Those steel girders seem to be getting welded together really quickly now. Looks like it's going to turn out well; I think it fits in great next to the red brick computer science building.

What's that really tall building (15 storey) going to be used for. Is it flats? Also where are they sticking it, somewhere behind all the stuff facing on to oxford road?

It is going up well fast innit. Those steel girders seem to be getting welded together really quickly now. Looks like it's going to turn out well; I think it fits in great next to the red brick computer science building.

What's that really tall building (15 storey) going to be used for. Is it flats? Also where are they sticking it, somewhere behind all the stuff facing on to oxford road?

I think 15 sty bldg it is student accommodation.

Yes but I think it will only be postgrad accommodation - so that's me ruled out!

http://images.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.character.co.jp/danny_first/images/happy_face.gif&usg=__o92IOkcjGJ7uq7VacT8LMTqOYKU=

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/a121.jpg

Here's that tower being built behind the SCAN building:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8759/manchesterunicg2.jpg

It's actually pretty big, but well hidden.

Hmmm, thats interesting jrb. Looks more like a concept render though. I still think this will turn out grey and yellow although I hope it doesn't - I don't think there could be more unsightly combination of colours.

I wouldn't mind all yellow, especialy if it was a slightly buff toned-down yellow to tone in with the old stone opposite. I like the shinyness on that drum render, but I hope it doesn't all end up grey.

The SCAN building......good name and an acronym to boot.
So why the 'competition' to rename it?
Sounds like another pointless 'make-work' project....

Here's that tower being built behind the SCAN building:

Is this part of the SCAN then? This will be for the nurses to live in.

The SCAN building......good name and an acronym to boot.
So why the 'competition' to rename it?
Sounds like another pointless 'make-work' project....

Couldn’t agree more! SCAN is a fantastic name, it actually tells you what’s in the bloody place, and sounds progressive and snazzy! Instead of being called the "Sir Robin Bobins" building; I hate all the name dropping "aren’t we clever", "wasn’t that librarian a nice person in 1910" building names at universities.

Is this part of the SCAN then? This will be for the nurses to live in.
The towers behind (all the new build up to AMPS) are SCAN, oh sorry Anna Ford building as some tit will probably suggest.
http://www.art.man.ac.uk/EIA/images/about/annaford.jpg

The Rik Mayall Building?
The Chemical Brothers Building?
The Tesco Building? (Terry Leahy is alumni)
God forbid they should ask Lord Foster to design a building for them - he might even give them discount!

I've suggested they call it Reni's Drum...

Aaaaawr, I think they should call it The Blot.

The Tesco Building? (Terry Leahy is alumni)

He's Co-Chancellor.

He's Co-Chancellor.

...and yet there isn't a Tesco Metro on the whole campus!
Give it time though eh?

Aaaaawr, I think they should call it The Blot.

That name is already taken by the new Humanities building over the road!, it is impossible for SCAN to look worse; although I share concerns about the finish (all I have heard from people involved is about great aspirations, that turned into cost cutting).

The Humanities building would stand out as ugly cheap and nasty even in the Green Quarter; and to make it worse it destroyed my single favourite piece of park in Manchester. Id take a picture but I trashed my camera at the weekend, boo and a hoo.

That name is already taken by the new Humanities building over the road!, it is impossible for SCAN to look worse; although I share concerns about the finish (all I have heard from people involved is about great aspirations, that turned into cost cutting).

The Humanities building would stand out as ugly cheap and nasty even in the Green Quarter; and to make it worse it destroyed my single favourite piece of park in Manchester. Id take a picture but I trashed my camera at the weekend, boo and a hoo.

There are some rubbish photos on here
http://www.fairhursts.com/
but i'm loathed to send you there.
I'm doing an event with Fairhursts next year so have to be all positive about them and say nice things but in this case .......:cry:

I literally cry every time I go past, its a fucking disgrace; and there is an untouched surface car park just behind to rub in the salt.

I literally cry every time I go past, its a fucking disgrace;

So that is you sat on the step outside Spar with his head between his knees?
I'll be sure to put a farthing in your hat next time i go past instead of spitting on you like i normally do.

Oh but I’ve been saving up your beardy spittle in a little cup, and throwing it at the Humanities building in the blind hope that it will have a corrosive effect on the substructure and bring the bastard down…….just a matter of time…….

The Humanities building would stand out as ugly cheap and nasty even in the Green Quarter

You aren't kidding there. I went to the Manchester Museum a few weeks back and passed the Humanities bldg. I was actually gobsmacked at how cheap and nasty it looked. Gotta be the cheapest effort on the whole campus. A disgraceful mess to spoil Oxford Road and right near the magnificent Waterhouse pile too.

Everyone at planning (which is based in the Concrete Bunker behind the new humanities building) reckons the new humanities building is a disgrace. I mean - look at the windows! They're just your normal uPVC house windows! :|

Everyone at planning (which is based in the Concrete Bunker behind the new humanities building) reckons the new humanities building is a disgrace. I mean - look at the windows! They're just your normal uPVC house windows! :|

I used to love lounging on that lawn, gazing at the chunky brutality of the Kantorovich building, nursing first year hangovers from hell, pretending to read lecture hand outs! The short sighted bastards, it is the single worst building to have been erected in central Manchester in the last 5 years; the architects, planners who allowed it and university procurement that actually paid for it should have to wallpaper their homes with images of its arse gravy façade to remind them just what they have done.

http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/images/SED/arch-2.jpg

I went to Manchester University, I used ot sit on that grass too. It grieves me to see open space lost to a piece of lowrise crap, especially when they knocked down my inspirational highrise on-the-postcard ahead-of-its-time Maths Tower across the road. They could have buffed it up and got rid of the stils and found some use for it, surely. Turned it into a humanities building or something.

This sentiment is why I'm concerned about this drum looking right. I fear it's going to be a cheap rumpled tinny pillbox eyesore, too close to the road and in yer face, jarring against the other buildings and even the new blocks behind. I reckon it's going to be a blot on the landscape, a blind grey barrel of intellectual arrogance that destroyed a beacon on the skyline, and a blatant case of What were they thinking?

Ah. That's feels better.

I have a good feeling for how the drum its self will look, I’m sure they are going to have had the good grace to have picked on a specific finish and detail that will have a quality effect; well that’s what I'm hoping. I think the scale of it is quite special alone; now the sheer mass of the thing is becoming apparent I’m growing in confidence that it will be pleasingly dramatic.

The blocks behind are what worry me, and how close they are not only to each other but to the drum (and this relationship never quite sat right even in the renders). My hope is that the actual patterns of use, locations of entrances and the landscaping of the pedestrian areas around will make sense of it all, if the composition does turn out dodgy that is.

Putting the finish to one side, I really wish it wasn't so close to the road.

I went to Manchester University, I used ot sit on that grass too. It grieves me to see open space lost to a piece of lowrise crap, especially when they knocked down my inspirational highrise on-the-postcard ahead-of-its-time Maths Tower across the road. They could have buffed it up and got rid of the stils and found some use for it, surely. Turned it into a humanities building or something.

This sentiment is why I'm concerned about this drum looking right. I fear it's going to be a cheap rumpled tinny pillbox eyesore, too close to the road and in yer face, jarring against the other buildings and even the new blocks behind. I reckon it's going to be a blot on the landscape, a blind grey barrel of intellectual arrogance that destroyed a beacon on the skyline, and a blatant case of What were they thinking?

Ah. That's feels better.

Good post, Farsight. Other than for accommodation, the days of the highrise Maths Towers for University buildings are gone. They just don't function well for hourly mass migration around the buildings.

I'm loving the drum so far, but this 15(?) storey accommodation block: In don't remember seeing it on the renders. Pretty much every one I've seen focuses on the drum. I'll have a SCAN through the thread in a minute.

I'm hopeful that this, the centre piece of the new, Uni developments will be top notch. I mean if its their 'Pièce de résistance' of the new builds it should be better than MIB, right?...right?...anyone? [*glances hopefully around the room*]

I'm hopeful that this, the centre piece of the new, Uni developments will be top notch. I mean if its their 'Pièce de résistance' of the new builds it should be better than MIB, right?...right?...anyone? [*glances hopefully around the room*]

Not a hope in hell, biomedical sciences pay a whole lot better than students who would happily come here regardless of the buildings, MIB is plush to impress and draw in international researchers and their grants. I doubt there will be a better finished building at the university for a very long time.

My god even injurylawyers4u’s current advert is filmed in there, it MUST be impressive! They also used the gallery in their last one, and Platt Fields in this one……http://www.injurylawyers4u.co.uk/adverts/woodland.htm

Yep, them days are gone Macc. The trouble is, I read about Reading University closing its Physics Department and I think it ain't just the buildings. The demolition (rather than alterative use) of the Maths Tower and the building of Humanities on greensward is symbolic of something I don't much like.

The towers behind (all the new build up to AMPS) are SCAN, oh sorry Anna Ford building as some tit will probably suggest.
http://www.art.man.ac.uk/EIA/images/about/annaford.jpg

Talking of Anna Ford (which we werent!) watch this clip and tell me Anna Ford was not well fit!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/bb_rm_fs.stm?news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=6181869

http://www.aaprojects.co.uk/projects/images/uom_scan.jpg

http://www.aaprojects.co.uk/

Unfortunately the image doesn't load. Some information though.

http://www.rwgregory.com/home.htm

http://www.bucknall.com/sectors/images/website1.jpg

^^ Includes PDF of the recently posted render.

http://www.bucknall.com/sectors/universityofmanchester.htm

You can see this building rising from the city centre now. If you look down Oxford St. Gives the Southern view more presence as the Maths Tower had done, but you can still see St Augustine's church tower, which I like. Add's a bit of character IMO.

You can see this building rising from the city centre now. If you look down Oxford St. Gives the Southern view more presence as the Maths Tower had done, but you can still see St Augustine's church tower, which I like. Add's a bit of character IMO.

St Augustine's church, where's that? I know the Holy Name (a fine church - even if it is Catholic - ONLY JOKING), but I don't know a St Augustines'.

Thanks for those images jrb. Hopefully we won't see any yellow brick on the completed scheme....

St Augustine's church, where's that? I know the Holy Name (a fine church - even if it is Catholic - ONLY JOKING), but I don't know a St Augustines'.

Its in All Saints.
You are going to think i'm mad but i put it in for listing early last year.
Its not much to look at outside but trust me its a great building. Its lovely inside.

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=54610

BTW i think gshutty is getting confused - i think he actually means Holy Name.

I quite like some of the catholic churches that were built after they introduced the new liturgy in the 60's, I'm also a fan of that seemingly very British style of the fifties with the copper green roofing and that orangy brown brick like at Coventry Cathedral.

Its in All Saints.
You are going to think i'm mad but i put it in for listing early last year.
Its not much to look at outside but trust me its a great building. Its lovely inside.

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=54610

BTW i think gshutty is getting confused - i think he actually means Holy Name.

I know it now, just off All Saints Square. I quite like some of these modern churches too and maybe it's not quite up to being listed, but I'd be happy if it was listed. Does anyone attend this church?? I would've thought all the Catholic students would go to the Holy Name (which is fantastic inside - or at least it was around the time of Elsie Tanner's funeral [can't remember the actor's realy name])

Its in All Saints.
You are going to think i'm mad but i put it in for listing early last year.
Its not much to look at outside but trust me its a great building. Its lovely inside.

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=54610

BTW i think gshutty is getting confused - i think he actually means Holy Name.

I was referrring to the stone church with the tower. Next to Kro 1 and opposite the museum. I was glad to see that filling the void that the Maths Tower left, looking out from the Palace.

Taken today quickly while passing Scan.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture301.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture303.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture298.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture299.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture297.jpg

Great pictures. A really confident and distinctive form emerging there. Fingers crossed that the finish is good enough for what will be the centrepiece of the university's latest spate of developments on its campus.

Anyone know anything about the winner of the design competition for the new business school I posted not so long ago?

Great pictures. A really confident and distinctive form emerging there. Fingers crossed that the finish is good enough for what will be the centrepiece of the university's latest spate of developments on its campus.

Anyone know anything about the winner of the design competition for the new business school I posted not so long ago?

Was that for Manchester Business School or MMU Business School? I suspect it may be the latter

Talk about in yer face.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture299.jpg

Yup, won't be long until that What The Fuck?! moment, closely followed by They demolished the Maths Tower for That! What Were They Thinking!!???

Steel work was only finished some time this week, the side facing the green space had a large gap in it Tue/Wed, you must have taken these pics just as they had finished jrb.

Im feeling generally happier about it the further it progresses, but still very hard to get a feel for what the finished article will be like, it strikes a very imposing form even without being clad; certainly going to be interesting. It does (as was expected) feel very close to the road; a nudge back certainly would have been in its favour, but the contrast of glazing at ground and solid on top may improve how it seems to sit on the site. Please let the clad be fantastically finished, it has to be flawless to work.

Pics taken with my mobile this lunchtime:

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5126/f1of7.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/866/f2sz3.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8150/f3uk6.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2947/f4ns6.jpg

Mmm... a large, round, corrogated iron shed... :|

Actually it's beginning to look like a 21st Century gas holder! ;)

Some kind of fixing system I guess?

Yes its the liner tray

Taken today.

Looking from the dental hospital.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture394.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture399.jpg

Close up.

MDF panels going on. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture396.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture395.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture397.jpg

I hope they sort out these tacky industrial-steel stairs up to my old Computing building. There was a ramp and walkway previously. It's called the Kilburn building because of Tom Kilburn, basically the inventor of the modern computer and one of the professors who lectured us. Sadly he died a few years back.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/866/f2sz3.jpg

New images/renders of the Scan buildings interior.

60m university conference boost

http://www.metronews.co.uk/ContentResources/C_52_Article_3672_BodyText_TextSection_0_Image.jpg

SPACE: An artist's impression of the 1,100-seat auditorium

IMAGES showing the £60m building that will replace the Maths Tower on Oxford Road have been revealed by Manchester University.

The ultra-modern building will be the largest purpose-built lecture theatre in the city and feature a 1,100-seat semi-circular auditorium, which can be split into 600- and 400-seat theatres.

Temporarily named the Scan Building, the venue will also house 23 seminar rooms, 500sq metres of exhibition space, space for a marquee and a 400-seat restaurant.

It will be home to student services, the nursing and catering faculties and a new visitor centre.

Richard Handscombe, sales and marketing manager for conferences at the university, said: "The pulling power of Manchester as a conference destination is set for a boost.

"We are now taking bookings for one of the most exciting developments in the world of business meetings.

"The new venue is not only the largest of its kind in Manchester's highly competitive market but will also assure conference organisers that the phenomenal facilities and first-class service that Manchester University is renowned for will continue."

Scan is part of the £350m Project Unity, the biggest construction programme in the history of higher education in Britain, which is currently under way.

The campus, on Upper Brook Street and Oxford Road, is being completely remodelled, with nine new buildings, the refurbishment of existing buildings and extensive landscaping.

An internal competition to name the building, which will open next year, was launched last month.

Manchester University is already the largest conference venue provider in the north of England, with more than 50 theatres and 8,000 bedrooms.

http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/

http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/meetingmanchester/meetingandaccommodationfacilities/maincampusoxfordroad/scanbuilding/

Some 'dull/light grey/already buckling slightly' stuff going on today... :dunno:

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/793/dsc00023sp0.jpg

Give it a chance! You can hardly get the full effect from three strips. If you were expeting a nice smooth flawless finish then you were always going to be disapointed with Zinc; lets just hope they manage to do a good job with what they have got. Personally I'm still very hopful!

I was hoping for something a bit more shiney.
http://www.simarzincorame.com/images/zinc-rolled-sections-3.jpg

Give it a chance! You can hardly get the full effect from three strips. If you were expeting a nice smooth flawless finish then you were always going to be disapointed with Zinc; lets just hope they manage to do a good job with what they have got. Personally I'm still very hopful!

Don't get me wrong Archie - I'm not dismissing anything out of hand - I don't even know if it is the actual cladding, or something they'll attach the cladding to. But like Macc, I was hoping for the shiny stuff Libeskind used on the Jewish Museum.

This building - more than any other currently under construction in Manchester - will be judged on its cladding. It could be stunning and daring, or quite dull and imposing.

It is the final clad. Its pre-oxidised Zinc; you use this when you purposefully want an even finish to the metal that will not (if fitted/detailed correctly) weather or stain. I would guess that they felt that letting the metal weather on the building could have lead to a patchy appearance.

I've tried to say this before but has previously fallen on deaf ears; the Libskind Jewish Museum is not shiny, it is just the Zinc has been allowed to oxidise in-situ so has a slight added lustre to the pre-patinated version, it will end up just as dull but with a slightly less even finish; when I visited a few years back it was already quite dulled. Shiny buildings (like Lowry/Bilbao Guggenheim/IWMN) are always aluminium or titanium; and even these taint and stain, has been a court case over Guggenheim’s not weathering as well as promised.

What I am trying to say is although shiny is an attractive prospect, it’s pretty impossible to achieve even with an insane budget let along what they will have had to spend here. I think people will be surprised at the amount of light play there will be across the surface, with the drum exaggerating the sun's movement through the days and seasons. It will be more subtle, but I think in the long run will look better than being overtly patchy; although that could still happen because metal clad is an arse!

Everyone is (rightly in my view) very excited by the Pic place copper clad and its hypnotising shine; but it is going to dull very very quickly, the test panels they put up about a year ago on London rd have lost all their lustre. Shine doesn’t last.

^^ could they not spray on a hard acrylic shell on shiney metals to weatherproof it? Pretty much the way laquered brass keeps it's lustre without needing to polish it?

Personally I haven’t seen such coated metal used as a clad; although you do see it for handrails/door handles etc. I would guess you would have problems if fitting it scratched off or thinned the coating: because this sort of metal generally arrives on site as a flat roll of metal and is crimped/pressed into shape as it is being fixed, any coating would be damaged. Spraying on a coating on site would have a very low quality control and probably would create a patchiness of its own. A system like the pre-pressed panels on Pic Place could I suppose be factory dipped or sprayed, but then you are getting into expensive territory; but the planning application in that case was based on it turning brassy. There is also anodised metals which can be very shiny, and is actually proposed on that out of place hotel scheme at the Spar site on Oxford St (gold and brassy on the planning app); I’m not familiar with the process but you can get natural looking finishes as well as colours, it must just come down to the money again.

The problem at the end of it all is cost, and Zinc is at the cheap end. There were apparently lots of options considered (I’ve mentioned before the glazed bricks) but on cost grounds this is what we are getting. It’s a big surface to cover in any one material, whatever it was would annoy some people; I’m hoping that the quality of the workmanship is good enough to pull it off. The effect of the glazed ground floor with this huge unyielding mass above it could end up looking quite spectacular (esp lit at night).

I actually liked it best when all the complexity of the steelwork was visable! Clad in tinted or one way glass would have looked great to keep that all visable; but impossible in terms of insulating the space for sound and heat, and back to the money again......

Some 'dull/light grey/already buckling slightly' stuff going on today... :dunno:

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/793/dsc00023sp0.jpg

Saw the cladding yesterday for the first time. First impressions and thoughts......

http://www.finanandco.co.uk/April2001/342col.jpg

Saw the cladding yesterday for the first time. First impressions and thoughts......

http://www.finanandco.co.uk/April2001/342col.jpg

If only! that'd be fucking amazing.

If only! that'd be fucking amazing.

Give it a few decades Macc.

The Scan Building is henceforth renamed (rather boringly) 'University Place'

New render...

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6753/untitledhi9.jpg

Thanks for the picture, beardy. Hmmn. Where have I seen that before? Driving up the M1 past some retail distribution depot? No, maybe not:

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/908535/2/istockphoto_908535_corrugated_shed.jpg

http://www.johnnyroadtrip.com/cities/newyork/images/msg.jpg

Thanks BG.

Im confused though. It has been said on this forum that the SCAN building has been through a number of different incarnations as regards cladding. Presumably that render is now obsolete as they appear to be employing buff brick rather than those much prettier pale salmon concrete panels.

Also could someone clarify whats happening with the cladding of the drum? We have seen in recent weeks strips of zinc being applied to the drum but prior to that what appeared to be pale stone-like panels as pictured on the previous page.

March
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture397.jpg


May
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/793/dsc00023sp0.jpg


Presumably the stone-like panels were not cladding and in fact part of the fixture for the zinc? Or perhaps the client issued a last minute design change instruction?

see, if SCAN was on a corner like MSG i think it would work a lot better

Thanks BG.

Im confused though. It has been said on this forum that the SCAN building has been through a number of different incarnations as regards cladding. Presumably that render is now obsolete as they appear to be employing buff brick rather than those much prettier pale salmon concrete panels.

Also could someone clarify whats happening with the cladding of the drum? We have seen in recent weeks strips of zinc being applied to the drum but prior to that what appeared to be pale stone-like panels as pictured on the previous page.

March
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture397.jpg


May
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/793/dsc00023sp0.jpg


Presumably the stone-like panels were not cladding and in fact part of the fixture for the zinc? Or perhaps the client issued a last minute design change instruction?

Those panels in the picture are wood Sleepy.(not sure if your refering to those as stone?) Apologise if your not.
There's now another set of zinc panels on the other side of the building aswell. Same configuration.

Those panels in the picture are wood Sleepy.(not sure if your refering to those as stone?) Apologise if your not.

Right! Thanks. Not seeing it in person, I had initially assumed they were going with some sort of wacky sandstone-effect panel. It was the texturing of the material that confused me.

I assume all that cladding is a soundproofing system.

It was MDF, sleepy.

I assume all that cladding is a soundproofing system.Well no not per-se, it’s the various layers that build up the wall structure, metal frame, thermal insulation, waterproof membrane, insect mesh, and wood to take the secure the zinc to; but almost anything can act to stop sound being transmitted especially when its built up in a sandwich of materials.

It was MDF, sleepy.Being a pedant its actually ply, mdf doesn’t bend like that.

I suppose the soundproofing, if there is any is layered on the inside of the steel frame.

Yup would have thought so.

Are you a fan of toileting people on Half-Life 2 Isaac or do you just like the logo? Its certainly how Im feeling on here today.

I found that logo looking up eurovision, I've no idea where it originates.

I didn’t wish to presume! The logo appears next to a character when they die on multi-player Half Life 2, when the method of death is that they have had a toilet thrown at their head. Its very entertaining, you should try it!

You dont strike me as a Half Life kinda guy Archie. I had you down as one for more celebral pursuits!

Its all a front, I'm a sofa dwelling lazy bum at heart!

OK, here the name that's going to stick:

The Tin Drum

You are naming my sweet little ass now?

OK, here the name that's going to stick:

The Tin Drum

A name with literary merit if nothing else.

Good movie too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tin_Drum

Since Mancunians seemingly don't have it in us to name our buildings in a 'cute' overfamiliar fashion (i'm looking at you Gherkin and Paddy's Wigwam) we should try and nickname all our public buildings after literary masterworks in an effort to out pretentious the rest of the nation.

MRI could be Germinal
The Piccadilly Plaza Hotel could be As You Like It
Anything planned by BSC could be Pride and Prejudice
Urbis could be In Praise of Folly

Well, I know what I'm doing with the rest of my afternoon.

Arndale could be the yellow pages

Taken this afternoon.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3999.jpg

Wonder if they are testing for warping, those stips have been say there for a while now? The finish is as smooth as I have ever seen with sheet metal clad, so good if they are also checking it stays as is before cracking on.

Scanned from the latest addition of Unilife.(kindly given to me by my girlfriend)

Phase one of the estates plan draws to a close.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/aa.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/bbc-1.jpg

The new official name for the Scan building is now. University Place-(Piccadilly Tower)

do you want me to rename the thread?

do you want me to rename the thread?

If you don't mind b4mmy. I sense burnout though. :)

If you don't mind b4mmy. I sense burnout though. :)

lol! Maybe tomorrow :)

lol! Maybe tomorrow :)

Take a day off.

List of buildings to go.

Moffat Building, Manths and Social Sciences Tower, the Morton Building and theFairbairn Building on Savkville Street. Others for sale include. Stars Directorate: Chandos Hall, Hardy Farm, Manchester Conference Centre and Weston Hall.

Taken this afternoon.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3999.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/aa.jpg

Vivid yellow brick. ^^ The metal cladding on the drum is starting to go up around the back and around the right hand side of the drum as you face it.(to the right of the lampost)

Taken on the 42 bus speeding down Wilmslow Road.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3995.jpg?t=1184450060

Has anyone noticed the graffiti that was put on the yellow brick wall?
It's probably just been covered now but there was a picture of a sikh emblem on it about 3 feet-3 feet.

http://www.sikhs.co.nz/Insignia/khanda.jpg

Can't really make my mind up about the cladding. I'll have to wait until it's completed.

PS. How can that hold 1500 people?

Taken today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3984-2.jpg

I like this project but there really is a diabolical jumble of different cladding types and colours on this campus. It really is fucking horrible. You have sickly yellow brick and light and dark gray zinc on SCAN (sickly yellow and grey are never a good combination). Then we have a different dark gray (probably) zinc on the adjacent AMPPS, and variously, white render, red brick, red teracotta, green painted aluminium panels, grey painted aluminium panles, green copper, brown brick, grey and pink painted concrete, buff sandstone etc etc all within close proximity. Upper Brook St and the Northerna nd Western parts of the campus looks a complete mess.

Manchester uni have proved themselves to be clients of upmost ineptitude and naivety in embarking upon one of the biggest building programmes in its history and ending up with a set of buildings that sit so badly together. I have no gripes with the masterplan nor the forms and masses of the buildings themselves and certainly some of the buildings look okay on their own (AMPPS and Smith bldgs particularly) but the impact of the obvious and brutal value engineering together with apparently zero overall strategic control to ensure all the buildings sit comfortably together has seriously compromised the end result for me. It would not take a great deal of effort nor expense to ensure that there was a degree of harmony in cladding between the new buildings and existing campus and also between the new buildings themselves. Disappointing.

Just to pick up on Sleepy's points. (I'll post these pictures in the MU thread aswell)

All taken today. Most on Upper Brook Street. The student tower looks much better in life than it does in the picture.(trust me) :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3995-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture4001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture4000.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3999-1.jpg

Not convinced at all. About the building itself and the location. It just doesn't sit right on Upper Brook Street.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3998.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3997.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture3996.jpg

Not convinced at all. About the building itself and the location. It just doesn't sit right on Upper Brook Street.

I actually think the AMPPS is probably among the best of the new ones. Its how they all sit together that rankles with me. Very little coherence. A complete mish mash of different clads.

I like this project but there really is a diabolical jumble of different cladding types and colours on this campus. It really is fucking horrible. You have sickly yellow brick and light and dark gray zinc on SCAN (sickly yellow and grey are never a good combination). Then we have a different dark gray (probably) zinc on the adjacent AMPPS, and variously, white render, red brick, red teracotta, green painted aluminium panels, grey painted aluminium panles, green copper, brown brick, grey and pink painted concrete, buff sandstone etc etc all within close proximity. Upper Brook St and the Northerna nd Western parts of the campus looks a complete mess.

Manchester uni have proved themselves to be clients of upmost ineptitude and naivety in embarking upon one of the biggest building programmes in its history and ending up with a set of buildings that sit so badly together. I have no gripes with the masterplan nor the forms and masses of the buildings themselves and certainly some of the buildings look okay on their own (AMPPS and Smith bldgs particularly) but the impact of the obvious and brutal value engineering together with apparently zero overall strategic control to ensure all the buildings sit comfortably together has seriously compromised the end result for me. It would not take a great deal of effort nor expense to ensure that there was a degree of harmony in cladding between the new buildings and existing campus and also between the new buildings themselves. Disappointing.

My favourite by far (excluding MIB) is the new front to the RNCM. Its fab...but its finished, unlike some of the others, so its not a fair comparison as yet.

Whilst not generally a fan of sickly yellow, 70s council estate bricks I actually quite like it on university Place. I have some reservations about the cladding on the drum but when I picture it with the 'Universtiy of Manc' signage I thing it'll imropve significantly.

I was dissapointed at first that yet again a new development, this time AMPSS, offers no type of retail units onto Upper Brook Street (from a pedestrians perspective, the most boring main road ever, possibly in the universe.). But having learn't a bit about the building and its prospective use I now realise it would have been utterly ridiculous.

Its worth noting the indended major pedestrian thoroughfare through the ampss (and the ace atrium) and down the side of the currently hoarded-up-to-fuck Uni Place/Kilburn building should make the developments feel more accessible. However I agree 100% that the cladding on Uni Place and AMPSS don't sit well next to each other.

The Humanities/Arthur Lewis building is made worse that from Oxford Road you only see the north-eastern terracotta corner as you walk past. Bearing in mind the restricted views couldn't they have put the entrance to this building on the north-eastern corner, rather than just flashing its left tit to Oxford road?

Whilst not generally a fan of sickly yellow, 70s council estate bricks I actually quite like it on university Place. I have some reservations about the cladding on the drum but when I picture it with the 'Universtiy of Manc' signage I thing it'll imropve significantly.

The problem for me is that SCAN is so incredibly dominant. The juxtaposition of all that sickly yellow with buildings of similar mass but of such contrasting colour such as the red brick computer science block, the dark grey AMPPS, the brown brick science blocks and the buff coloured main building looks incredibly crass. In of itself the building looks fine but considering its pivotal position at the heart of the new campus with several, massive contrasting blocks on either side and a substantial lush green landscaped square, a more subtle colour would have been far more appropriate. As it is, the area will look like toy town and its a shame.

Agree about MIB and RNCM though - these are looking good.

I was dissapointed at first that yet again a new development, this time AMPSS, offers no type of retail units onto Upper Brook Street (from a pedestrians perspective, the most boring main road ever, possibly in the universe.). But having learn't a bit about the building and its prospective use I now realise it would have been utterly ridiculous.

Whilst retail units might not always be appropriate or feasible in university buildings, I still think a greater ambition and attention to detail both on the university's side and also the council's planning dept could have made an enormous difference to Upper Brook St. For example, notice how the Chemistry extension is built hard up to the pavement edge (despite that stupid green cantilevered section) with the first floor built over some sort of semi-basment. This, to me is far preferable to having the buildings set back from the pavement, sitting behind 6ft steel fencing as per Michael Smith. Also, even if retail units cannot be built into ground floors (although Im sure in some cases it could), the internal accommodation could be arranged such that the staff / student cafe or office accommodation is positioned there - providing some life to the streetscene as at MIB. Here again, there is clear lack strategic joined-up thinking and a missed opportunity to lift what is an incredibly important corridor in Upper Brook St.

I don't like the preponderance of grey, but I think the AMPSS building looks good. And I'm not a fan of red brick, especially when coupled with stacks and cables as per the Michael Smith "Kellogs Factory" building. But I rather like the yellow/buff myself. Whilst the SCAN development has that sixties slab effect with lift cores that give it a Stockport look, I think the yellow/buff colour harmonises very well with the main building.

But the thin tinny zinc grey of the "Tin Drum" lecture theatre looks cheap, and it's all so in yer face. If you were to conduct a survey using pictures of Oxford Road before and after this development, I suspect a lot of people would be surprised at which was which.

I don't like the preponderance of grey, but I think the AMPSS building looks good. And I'm not a fan of red brick, especially when coupled with stacks and cables as per the Michael Smith "Kellogs Factory" building. But I rather like the yellow/buff myself. Whilst the SCAN development has that sixties slab effect with lift cores that give it a Stockport look, I think the yellow/buff colour harmonises very well with the main building.
....

By the way AMPPS is now called the Alan Turing Building (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing_Building). Yes it is zinc cladding. I have just moved in and on the whole we feel very positive about working there.

By the way AMPPS is now called the Alan Turing Building (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing_Building). Yes it is zinc cladding. I have just moved in and on the whole we feel very positive about working there.

Thanks.

Welcome Billion. Hope you stick around.

is there anything this thread refers to that isn't completed? someone said the student halls are complete. the lecture theatre looks complete, i've not seen the school of nursing in months so would know.

http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/meetingmanchester/meetingandaccommodationfacilities/maincampusoxfordroad/scanbuilding/

University Place

The shape of conferences in the future

Bookings are now invited for one of the most exciting developments in the conference world.

From Summer 2008, Manchester will have a new world-class conference venue which will be second-to-none in the Northwest. University Place, on Oxford Road, at the heart of The University of Manchester campus, will feature:

1,000 seat semi-circular auditorium (divisible into two theatres of 600 and 270)
Additional 24 flat-floored seminar rooms accommodating 20-120 delegates
500 sq m exhibition area and adjacent marquee space
400 seat restaurant

Wi-fi access to exhibition and restaurant areas, high spec of audio visual aids and professional technicians on site

Adjacent to Roscoe and Schuster buildings offering a further 6 lecture theatres seating from 150-474

1 mile from the city centre

Car parking close by

http://media.stars.manchester.ac.uk/images/conference/meeting/scannew.jpg

Personally i'm waiting til the public realm around the buildings have been finished before coming to final conclusions. If done well i think it could really improve things. And i bloody hope the building weathers well!

If anyone can find a pic of it, University Place comes into it's own at night. The sign on the gas cylinder lit up does make it look less boring.

The lecture theatre inside is nice, had one of my exams in there!

The full length windows though on each floor of the middle building looking over the seating area are certainly virtigo-inducing! :)

Anyone got a good pic of this so I can add to our completed projects?