Manchester Civil Justice Centre - History

History

The justice centre is in Spinningfields, an area west of the city centre which has been regenerated since the 1996 Manchester bombing. A competition to design a landmark building to complement the development was launched in 2000. The brief required a minimum floorplate of 300,000 square feet and flexibility as a potential office building. The competition received 49 proposals and three finalists were selected. The winner was Australian architects Denton Corker Marshall with engineers Mott MacDonald. The practice won the competition for the way it used the elongated site, the striking yet practical design, clear zoning of space and value for money.

Construction began in 2003 funded by a £160 million Public–private partnership deal between developer Allied London and the government. The western side of the 80 metres (260 ft), 17-storey building faces the River Irwell. It is currently the joint sixth-tallest building in Manchester city centre. Its entrance opens onto Bridge Street.

The structure is notable for "fingers" at each end cantilevered over the lower levels. On the western facade is an 60 metre by 60 metre suspended glass wall which totals 11,000-square-metre (120,000 sq ft) - the largest in Europe. Government and justice departments have a 35 year lease on the building. Itwas designed so that it could be converted into offices in the case of a lease exchange.

On 18 January 2007, during the Kyrill storm, several pieces of aluminium cladding were blown off the building during the construction process - one struck a woman walking along Bridge Street. The building opened on 24 October 2007, becoming the largest civil court to be constructed in the United Kingdom since for more than a century. The building was officially inaugurated on 28 February 2008 by Queen Elizabeth II.