0180 Cornerblock

Full refurbishment of large office block in Manchester City Centre.

Cornerblock is located on the corner of Quay Street and Deansgate in the heart of Manchester city centre. Formerly known as Overseas House the building was originally designed by architects Leach Rhodes and Walker in 1974. The building comprises office accommodation over 6 floors & 52,000ft² with retail units to the ground floor.

The client’s brief was to carry out a partial exterior and full interior refurbishment of the building, whilst retaining the existing ground floor tenants in place. The rhythm of the existing elevations is very strong and design interventions externally are intended to be bold but complimentary to the original design.

A new brick and glass box is extruded above the main entrance to serve as a new marker for the building, whilst removal of an existing brick panel to the Deansgate elevation provides the opportunity for previously unrealised views from the office space along Peter Street and Deansgate.

Bruntwood sold the building in 2015 to Credit Suisse, and our design was taken forward by Cushman and Wakefield with Fletcher Rae Architects.

Client:

Bruntwood

Value:

£5.4m

Structural engineer:

DW Consulting Engineers