List of tallest buildings and structures in Manchester

Comparative height of various existing and approved tall buildings in Manchester. Please note, this image excludes the approved 150m Owen Street Tower and the 109m Wakefield Tower which is currently under construction.

This list of the tallest buildings and structures in Manchester ranks skyscrapers, structures and towers in the City of Manchester, England by height. Manchester is a major city and regional capital with a population of 441,200. It is historically notable for being the world’s first industrialised city and for the subsequent leading role it played during the Industrial Revolution. Manchester City Centre, the location of most of Manchester's tallest buildings and structures, is a regional central business district, at the centre of the wider Greater Manchester Urban Area which has a population of 2,240,230. and at the heart of Greater Manchester.

The list includes the year of completion for completed buildings, the height in metres and feet and the current usage of the building. The tallest building in the United Kingdom outside of London, the city's Beetham Tower, was completed in October 2006. It is 47 storeys and 169 metres (554 ft) high and consists of residential apartments and a Hilton Hotel. On the list of tallest structures are the 19th century Manchester Town Hall and the Refuge Assurance Building (now more commonly known as the Palace Hotel) from the early 20th century. The Manchester Assize Courts, once the tallest building in the city at 85 metres and one of the most admired, was demolished after suffering unrepairable damage during the Manchester Blitz.

One of the first proposed skyscrapers in the city was the Quay Street Tower, projected to be completed in 1948, which would have stood at 110 metres (361 ft) and would have been the tallest tower in Europe. The proposal was rejected as it was said to be inconsiderate, as much of the city was still rebuilding after the Manchester Blitz of the Second World War. Most of Manchester's current towers were built during the 1960s and 1970s, including the 118-metre (387 ft) CIS Tower which was the tallest building in Europe for a short time, and for 43 years the UK's tallest building outside London.

In the 2000s there has been a renewed interest in building skyscrapers in Manchester and other cities in Britain. Residential, hotel and office developments are under construction or have recently been built in the city centre including the Beetham Tower. A taller 58-storey, 188-metre (617 ft), building near Piccadilly Station, known as the Piccadilly Tower (previously known as Inacity Tower), has begun construction; Other high-rise buildings have been proposed for Manchester such as the Intercontinental Tower.

Tallest completed buildings

The tallest completed buildings above 50 metres (164 ft), as of the beginning of 2009, in Manchester are listed below. Buildings that have been demolished are not included.

Rank	Name	Completed	Use	Height		Floors	Image	Notes
				metres	feet
1	Beetham Tower	2006	Hotel and residential	169	554	47
2	CIS Tower	1962	Office	118	387	25
3	City Tower	1965	Office and retail	107	351	30
4	Arndale House	1979	Office	90	295	21
5=	Portland Tower	1962	Office	80	262	22
	Civil Justice Centre	2007	Government	80	262	17
7	3 Hardman Street	2009	Office and retail	75	246	16
8	Great Northern Tower	2006	Residential	72	236	25
9	Jefferson Place	2007	Residential	70	230	21
10	The Light House	2008	Residential and office	67	220	19
11=	Cypress Place	2009	Residential	65	213	20
	Britton House	2009	Residential	65	213	21
	Victoria Mills	1873	Office and residential	65	213	6
14=	111 Piccadilly	1965	Office	64	210	18
	Skyline Central	2007	Residential	64	210	20
	Albert Bridge House	1959	Office	64	210	18
	Tempus Tower	2006	Residential	64	210	20
	ISIS Wharf Tower	2008	Residential and retail	64	210	21
19	The Peninsula (City Park)	2009	Office	62.5	205	12
20	No. 1 Deansgate	2002	Residential and retail	62	203	17
21	Owens Park Tower	1964	Residential	61	200	19
22=	Chancery Place	2008	Office	60	197	15
	Maths and Social Sciences Building	1968	University	60	197	17
	St James's Buildings	1912	Office and retail	60	197	9
	3 Piccadilly Place	2007	Office and retail	60	197	13
26	Lowry House	1973	Office and retail	58	190	15
27=	UNITE Tower	2007	Residential and office	57	188	19
	ATS Site Block 1	2008	Residential	57	184	18
29=	Leftbank Apartments	2006	Residential and retail	56	184	16
	Ramada Renaissance Hotel	1972	Hotel and retail	56	184	15
31=	Royal Exchange Theatre	1922	Theatre and retail	55	180	8
	Bank Chambers	1971	Office	55	180	13
	St. James's House	1964	Office	55	180	17
	1 New York Street	2009	Office	55	180	13
35	No.1 Marsden Street	2002	Office and retail	53	174	12
36	82 King Street	1995	Office	52	171	13
37	ATS Site Block 2	2008	Residential	51	167	16

Tallest structures

The tallest structures, as of the beginning of 2009, in Manchester which are at least 50 metres (164 ft) are listed below. Structures which have been demolished are not included. A structure differs from a high-rise by its lack of floors and habitability.

Rank	Name	Built	Use	Height		Notes
				metres	feet
1	Manchester Town Hall Clock Tower	1877	Clock tower	87	285
2	HMP Manchester Tower	1869	Watchtower	73	239
3	City of Manchester Stadium	2002	Stadium	70	230
4	Palace Hotel Clock Tower	1912	Clock tower	66	217
5	Wheel of Manchester	2004	Ferris wheel	60	197
6	Minshull Street Courts Clock Tower	1871	Clock tower	57	187
7	Holy Name Church Tower	1928	Church	56	184

Tallest under construction, approved, proposed and demolished buildings

17 New Wakefield Street under construction in August 2011

CGI impression of The Co-Operative Group's new headquarters.

The tallest under construction, approved, or proposed buildings above 60 metres (197 ft), as of 2011, in Manchester are listed below. Some are on hold owing to the late-2000s recession.

Under construction

Rank	Name	Use	Height		Floors	Notes
			metres	feet
1	Piccadilly Tower (Inacity Tower)	Hotel and residential	188	617	58	On hold due to economy
2	17 New Wakefield Street	Residential	106	348	32	Under construction as of February 2012
3	The Co-operative Group Building at NOMA	Office	72.5	238	16	Under construction as of February 2012
4	Axis Tower	Office	68	223	18	On hold due to economy

Approved

Rank	Name	Use	Height		Floors	Notes
			metres	feet
1	Vivo Block D	Residential and retail	150	492	25
2	Zararchie Tower (Gravity)	Residential and retail	116	381	33
3	Vivo Block B	Residential and retail	104	341	33
4	Vivo Block C	Residential and retail	89	292	28
	Vivo Block E	Residential and retail	89	292	28
5	Sharp Street Building 1	Residential and retail	88	289	28
	1 Water Street (The Regent)	Residential and hotel	88	289	29
6	Lee House Extension	Office and residential	69	226	19
7	Victoria Works Tower	Residential	65	213	22

Proposed

The neogothic Manchester Assize Courts, once the tallest building in Manchester. Suffered unrepairable damage during the Manchester Blitz and demolished in 1957

Rank	Name	Use	Height		Floors	Notes
			metres	feet
1	Intercontinental Tower	Hotel and residential	200	656	48
2	1 Hardman Square	Office and hotel	140	540	40
3	Whitworth Street West	Residential and hotel	128	420	42
4	Premier House Building 1	Residential and retail	121	397	36
5	Theatre Royal Tower	Office and retail	118	387	28
6	Premier House Building 2	Hotel and retail	93	305	36
7	Albion Wharf	Office	84	276	20
8	Ramada Residential Tower	Residential and retail	83	272	26
9	The Manchester	Residential and hotel	82	269	27
10	Holt Town Waterfront Tower	Residential	80	262	25
11	Plot F Great Jackson Street Development	Residential and office	76	249	25
12	Chapeltown Street Tower D	Residential and retail	74	243	25
13	Mill 1 Macintosh Village	Residential	70	230	21
	Mill 4 Macintosh Village	Residential	70	230	21
14	Whitworth Street Tower	Residential and hotel	64	210	20

Demolished

Rank	Name	Use	Height		Floors	Notes
			metres	feet
1	Manchester Assize Courts	Government	85	278	7	Once the tallest building in Manchester. Damaged beyond repair during the Manchester Blitz an demolished in 1957 after World War II.

Timeline of tallest buildings

Manchester's skyline has been built up mostly over recent years. The CIS Tower kept the title of tallest building in Manchester for 43 years until the Beetham Tower was completed in 2006. The Beetham is set to lose the title when Piccadilly Tower is completed.

Years tallest	Name	Use	Height		Floors	Notes
			metres	feet
1864–1877	Manchester Assize Courts	Tower	85	278	7
1877–1962	Manchester Town Hall Clock Tower	Clocktower	87	285	n/a
1962–2006	CIS Tower	Office	118	387	25
2006–present	Beetham Tower	Hotel and residential	169	554	47

*Italics denote a building that does not exist as of 2011 because it was demolished

See also

• Architecture of Manchester
• Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Salford
• List of tallest structures in the United Kingdom

External links

• Skyscrapernews.com Manchester