Sunlight House
| Sunlight House | |
|---|---|
 Sunlight House |
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 Location of Sunlight House within Greater Manchester
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Art deco |
| Address | Quay Street, Manchester |
| Coordinates | 53°28′43″N 2°15′02″W / 53.4786°N 2.2506°W |
| Completed | 1932 |
| Renovated | 1997 |
| Height | 135 feet (41 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 14 |
| Design and construction | |
| Owner | Warner Estates |
| Architect | Joseph Sunlight |
Sunlight House is a Grade II* listed art deco office building on Quay Street, Manchester, England.[1]
Built in 1932 by Joseph Sunlight, it is constructed of steel and concrete and clad in Portland stone.[1] On completion, at 14-stories and 135 feet (41 m), it was the city's tallest building.[2] Its art deco design, complete with mansard roofs make the building a rather distinctive feature in the city.
Sunlight House was used as the headquarters of Joseph Sunlight's property business, and was originally intended to be 30-stories. It was claimed to be Northern England's first skyscraper. This plan had to be scaled back when the plan was blocked by the city council. A further proposed 40-story extension in 1948 was never built.[3]
The building was renovated in 1997 when it was found that bolts holding the cladding had rusted through.[4] It now houses offices, shops and a health club. The health club features an original basement swimming pool.[2]
CIS bought Sunlight House from Gadaricus in 2002 for £27.5m. CIS later sold the building in 2005 to Warner Estate Holdings for £40m.[5]
The building is reputed to be haunted.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Sunlight House, Heritage Gateway, http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=456846&resourceID=5, retrieved 26 December 2009
- ^ a b Hartwell, Clare (2001), Manchester, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Penguin Books, p. 252, ISBN 9780140711318
- ^ Kadish, Sharman (2004), "Sunlight, Joseph (1889–1978)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/42156, retrieved 26 December 2009
- ^ Parkinson-Bailey, John (2000), Manchester: an architectural history, Manchester University Press, p. 144, ISBN 9780719056062
- ^ a b Thame, David (6 December 2005), New era for Sunlight after GBP159m deal, Manchester Evening News
