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Ian Simpson (born c. 1955) [1] is an English architect and one of the partners of SimpsonHaugh and Partners, established in 1987 with Rachel Haugh.
Ian Simpson was born and brought up in Heywood, near Rochdale, [1] the oldest of six children. His father was a demolition contractor. Excelling in art and woodwork at school, he claims he knew he wanted to be an architect from age 12. [2] He studied architecture at Liverpool Polytechnic and after he completed his studies he left to work in London with Foster and Partners.
After three years, he moved back to Manchester and set up Ian Simpson Architects with Rachel Haugh. Simpson's lecturer’s post at Manchester University paid the bills; the practice wouldn’t make a profit for almost ten years. [2]
The main offices of the practice are in Castlefield, Manchester; it also has a London office, working on several projects in the capital. Beyond the UK, Simpson is building a new concert hall in Antwerp.
In 2002 he moved in to live in a large apartment at No1 Deansgate, a new building he designed as part of the post-IRA bomb city centre reconstruction. He now lives with his long-term partner Jo Farrell and their son in the penthouse at the top of The Beetham Tower. He designed the building (described as "the UK’s first proper skyscraper outside London") [1] and bought the top two floors (48th and 49th) as a 12,500 square foot shell before construction started. He was interviewed in his home by Daon Bruni for weekly on-line magazine Fashion Art and Design Weekly in August 2013. [3] The apartment includes an olive grove: 30 mature trees were hoisted up by crane before the roof was completed. The views extend to 56 km in clear weather. [4]
The first projects were in Manchester, including the Green Room theatre, a nine-year project with Manchester Museum and work on Ducie House and in Castlefield, where the practice is still based. These brought Simpson to the attention of Sir Howard Bernstein and the city council. [2]
In the early nineties, the City Council tasked a new group to look at urban design principles for the city and produce a Guide for developers. The group was convened and led by article Lesley Chalmers, Chief Executive of Hulme Regeneration Ltd (a Manchester public/private regeneration partnership), following her facilitation of "A Guide to Development" for Hulme, published in 1994. She gathered together a dozen development and regeneration professionals (and two academics in the field) and organised a structured series of site visits and discussion meetings to draft the “Guide to Development in Manchester” (published January 2007). Ian Simpson was a member of the group, as was Nick Johnson, later to become CEO of Urban Splash.
When the IRA bomb struck in the City Centre in 1996, the text to the Guide was completed and agreed by the Council, awaiting illustration and formal publication. The Guide, which shortly afterwards adopted as Supplementary Planning Document and Planning Guidance (SPD) was issued as part of the Council's brief for production of a masterplan for the reconstruction of the city centre. Ian Simpson Architects joined the team led by EDAW, chosen after open competition. Simpson's local knowledge and his strategy to grasp the opportunity to expand the city centre formed the core of the proposals.
In 2013 Simpson took on Nick Johnson, Urban Splash’s former deputy CEO, in a non-executive role to help explore future direction.
Simpson has also brought in experienced Manchester architect Roger Stephenson, whose own practice went into administration, helping him set up a new studio within the practice which will concentrate on projects at a different scale and type to Simpson and Haugh’s work. Source: Amanda Baillieu Building Design 9.5.13
Castlefield is an inner-city conservation area in Manchester, North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal, the world's first industrial canal, built in 1764; the oldest canal warehouse opened in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at Liverpool Road railway station and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.
No. 1 Deansgate is the name and location of a medium-rise apartment building in central Manchester, England. It is the tallest all-steel residential building in the United Kingdom, and one of the most expensive addresses in Manchester. The building was completed in 2002, and is situated at the north end of Deansgate close to Manchester Cathedral.
10 Holloway Circus is a 400-foot (122 m) tall mixed-use skyscraper in Birmingham city centre, England. It was originally named after the developers, Beetham Organisation, and was designed by Ian Simpson and built by Laing O'Rourke. The entire development covers an area of 7,000 square feet (650 m2). It is the second tallest building in Birmingham and the 74th tallest building in the United Kingdom.
The year 2006 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Beetham Tower is a 47-storey mixed use skyscraper in Manchester, England. Completed in 2006, it is named after its developers, the Beetham Organisation, and was designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners. The development occupies a sliver of land at the top of Deansgate, hence its elongated plan, and was proposed in July 2003, with construction beginning a year later.
Hilton Manchester Deansgate is a hotel in Manchester city centre, England. The hotel is housed within the 169 m (554 ft) tall, 47-storey mixed-use skyscraper Beetham Tower, also known as the Hilton Tower.
The architecture of Manchester demonstrates a rich variety of architectural styles. The city is a product of the Industrial Revolution and is known as the first modern, industrial city. Manchester is noted for its warehouses, railway viaducts, cotton mills and canals – remnants of its past when the city produced and traded goods. Manchester has minimal Georgian or medieval architecture to speak of and consequently has a vast array of 19th and early 20th-century architecture styles; examples include Palazzo, Neo-Gothic, Venetian Gothic, Edwardian baroque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Neo-Classical.
Roger Stephenson OBE is an English architect and is the Managing Partner of Stephenson Studio in Manchester.
Deansgate Square, formerly known as Owen Street, is a residential skyscraper cluster on the southern edge of Manchester City Centre, England, consisting of four towers, the tallest of which is 201 metres (659 ft). The site is just south of Deansgate railway station and north of the Mancunian Way, bounded by Deansgate, Owen Street and the River Medlock. The towers sit at different angles to each other, with a slight bevel, or 'cut back', on each side of each building which ensures the towers catch the light at different times of day.
AXIS is a residential tower in Manchester city centre, England. The tower has had two iterations, one as a stalled construction project which was cancelled due to the Great Recession in 2008, and the other as residential which was announced in 2014. When completed in 2019, Axis Tower became the seventh-tallest building in Greater Manchester until the completion of the Deansgate Square and Angel Gardens projects. As of July 2023, it is the 21st-tallest.
SimpsonHaugh is an English architecture practice established in 1987 by Ian Simpson and Rachel Haugh. The practice has offices in London and Manchester. In 2014, the practice re-branded as SimpsonHaugh & Partners.
The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually, originally by the magazine Building Design, and since 2024 by The Fence, to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a humorous response to the prestigious Stirling Prize, given by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Building Design, or BD, is a British weekly architectural magazine, based in London.
River Street Tower is a high-rise residential tower in Manchester, England. The tower is situated immediately north of the Mancunian Way on land which was formerly occupied by a concrete car park frame from 2005 to 2018.
St John's is a proposed £1 bn development of a 6 hectare plot within central Manchester, England. The site is being developed by Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL), a partnership between Manchester City Council and Allied London.
Trinity Islands is a residential skyscraper cluster under construction in Manchester, England, consisting of four towers between 39 and 60 storeys split over two 2.2-acre (0.89 ha) sites: Building D1 at 183 metres (600 ft), Building D2 at 169 m (554 ft), Building C2 at 146 m (479 ft) and Building C1 at 119 m (390 ft). The project was designed by SimpsonHaugh and comprises 1,950 apartments, with a total build cost of £535 million.
Rachel Haugh is an English architect who co-founded SimpsonHaugh and Partners with Ian Simpson in 1987. Her practice operates in Manchester and London. Haugh was shortlisted for the Woman Architect of the Year Award in 2015.
Viadux is a residential development under construction in the Castlefield area of Manchester, England. The first phase comprises a 40-storey residential skyscraper; the second phase proposals, if approved, will include a 76-storey skyscraper and 23-storey building.
The Instituto Cervantes building stands at the end of Deansgate, in Manchester, England. It is a Grade II listed building in the Romanesque Revival style. Its architect was George Meek, who designed the building c.1882. Originally built as the Deansgate Free Library, it subsequently served as the Castlefield Information Centre, before becoming the Manchester base for the Spanish language and cultural organisation, Instituto Cervantes.
Contour is a residential development under construction in the Castlefield area of Manchester, England. Once completed, it will comprise two 154-metre (505 ft) tall, 51-storey skyscrapers.
