Instituto Cervantes, Manchester | |
---|---|
Manchester, England centre for the Instituto Cervantes | |
Type | Former library |
Location | Deansgate, Manchester |
Coordinates | 53°28′33″N2°15′05″W / 53.4759°N 2.2513°W |
Built | 1882 |
Architect | George Meek |
Architectural style(s) | Romanesque Revival |
Owner | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Castlefield Information Centre |
Designated | 17 May 1974 |
Reference no. | 1200853 |
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.
Deansgate is one of the city of Manchester's oldest roads, being one of the chief thoroughfares of the Roman city of Mamucium. [1] It now features some of the city's most notable buildings, from Manchester Cathedral at its northern end, to the Rylands Library, and the Beetham Tower at its southern termination in the Castlefield district. The Instituto Cervantes building forms part of the street's late 19th century development and was designed by George Meek in 1882. [2]
George Meek (1849-1924) was born in Hull. Joining the surveyors department of the Manchester Corporation as an draughtsman in 1872, he rose to become Chief Architectural assistant, in effect the city architect. In a thirty-year career, he designed a large number of Manchester's buildings before disagreements with the corporation led to his dismissal in 1902. [3] [lower-alpha 1]
Among his many civic commissions was a replacement for the Manchester Free Library which had been established in Castlefield in 1852. [4] [lower-alpha 2] The first public lending library in England, following the Public Libraries Act 1850, the library was immensely popular. [6] By the 1880s the original building's size was insufficient and the corporation determined on a new building at the end of Deansgate. [2]
Meek designed the replacement in a Romanesque Revival style. Built of red brick with sandstone dressings, it rises two storeys on a corner site. The institute is a Grade II listed building. [2]
Following the closure of the library, the building operated as the Castlefield Information centre. It is now the Manchester offices of the Instituto Cervantes. [7] The institute, established by the Spanish government in 1991, promotes the "study, use and teaching of the Spanish language". [8] The Manchester branch opened in 1994. Its first director, from 1995 to 1998, was Antonio Gil de Carrasco. The official opening took place on 19 June 1997 featuring speeches by Raymond Carr, Tom Burns-Marañón and Mario Vargas Llosa. [9]
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.
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a population of 17,861 at the 2011 census.
Manchester Central Library is the headquarters of the city's library and information service in Manchester, England. Facing St Peter's Square, it was designed by E. Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934. The form of the building, a columned portico attached to a rotunda domed structure, is loosely derived from the Pantheon, Rome. At its opening, one critic wrote, "This is the sort of thing which persuades one to believe in the perennial applicability of the Classical canon".
Deansgate is a railway station in Manchester city centre, England, 1,100 yards (1 km) west of Manchester Piccadilly, close to Castlefield at the junction of Deansgate and Whitworth Street West. It is part of the Manchester station group.
Deansgate is a main road through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile in length.
Deansgate-Castlefield is a tram stop on Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail system, on Deansgate in the Castlefield area of Manchester city centre. It opened on 27 April 1992 as G-Mex tram stop, taking its name from the adjacent G-Mex Centre, a concert, conference and exhibition venue; the G-Mex Centre was rebranded as Manchester Central in 2007, prompting the Metrolink stop to be renamed on 20 September 2010. The station underwent redevelopment in 2014–15 to add an extra platform in preparation for the completion of the Second City Crossing in 2016–17.
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.
Quay Bar was a building situated next to the Bridgewater Canal basin in Castlefield, Manchester, England. It was designed by architects Stephenson Bell for their client Wolverhampton & Dudley Brewery.
John Henry Price – more commonly referred to as Henry Price – was the first person to hold the office of 'City Architect' in Manchester Corporation's newly created City Architect's Department of 1902. He was responsible for a number of well known Manchester landmarks, and is credited with influencing the design of other buildings constructed during his tenure, such as Manchester Fire Station.
There are 24 public libraries in Manchester, England, including the famous Central Library in St Peter’s Square.
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.
Quay Street is a street in the city centre of Manchester, England. The street, designated the A34, continues Peter Street westwards towards the River Irwell and Salford. It is the northern boundary of Spinningfields, the city's business district and Castlefield, the historical area of the city, lies to the south. Quay Street was created in the 18th century for access to a quay on the river and is lined by several listed buildings.
The Manchester Free Library opened on 5 September 1852 in Manchester, England. It was the first public library in England to be set up under the provisions of the Public Libraries Act 1850, which allowed local authorities to impose a local tax of one penny to pay for the service. The terms of the act required that a poll of ratepayers had to be held before the local authority was allowed to spend money on public libraries, and at least two-thirds had to vote in favour. In Manchester's case only 40 of the more than 4000 eligible voters opposed.
The Manchester station group is a station group of four railway stations in Manchester city centre, England; this consists of Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria and Deansgate. The station group is printed on national railway tickets as MANCHESTER STNS. For passengers travelling from one of the 91 National Rail stations in Greater Manchester, the four stations are printed as MANCHESTER CTLZ which additionally permits the use of Metrolink tram services in Zone 1.
Cheetham Hill Road is a road in north Manchester, England, running from Corporation Street in Manchester city centre to Prestwich. In Crumpsall, its name changes to Bury Old Road.
Zone 1 of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network is the heart of the system where all of the other lines converge. Its boundaries are broadly equivalent to those of Manchester city centre, and approximately mirror the city's Inner Ring Road. Within Zone 1, first opened in 1992 as the City Zone, trams largely run along semi-pedestrianised streets rather than on their own separate alignment. The original route between the Altrincham and Bury lines ran to Victoria station via Market Street and High Street, and was soon joined by a branch to Piccadilly station by a three-way delta junction. A second route between the South-West and North-Eastern parts of the network was built to ease congestion on the original line. Opened in 2017, the Second City Crossing (2CC) added one additional stop to the network.
Manchester is a city in Northwest England. The M3 postcode area of the city includes the western part of the city centre. The area contains 79 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, five are listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, two are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
Castlefield Viaduct is a 330 m (1,080 ft) disused railway viaduct built in 1892, which used to carry heavy rail traffic in and out of the Great Northern Warehouse, located in the Castlefield area of Manchester, England. It closed in 1969 and stood unused, though has been regularly maintained by National Highways.
Viadux is a mixed use development under construction in the Castlefield area of Manchester city centre, England. The first phase will comprise a 40-storey residential high-rise building; the second phase proposals, if approved, will include a 76-storey skyscraper and 23-storey building.