The Beetham Tower: Marvel or Monstrosity?

[aidanorourke]

In the autumn 2006 edition of the Manchester Civic Society newspaper Forum, local architectural commentator Eddy Rhead sings the praises of the Beetham Tower, not only for its scale and design, but also for the quality of its finishes and the attention to detail.

But I've also heard people criticise the Beetham Tower, calling it an 'oversized tooth' that's ugly and out of place. They are not keen on the plain and minimalist design, which some have described as 'top heavy' due to the overhang on the north side of the building.

Is the Beetham Tower the cream of modern architecture or a carbuncle on the face of the city? Your views please.

[Henry Mantell]

My view of it was from a train in August and of course your photography Aidan. Personally I am not a fan of high rise and my criticism is that the exterior finish doesn't exactly speak of opulence, in fact I think the finish detracts from the appearance of it.

It will be interesting to hear from people who have to look at it each day. I just wonder whether it will feature in architectural design awards? I find the London "gherkin" quite appealing,somehow this doesn't have any appeal.

I may have a different view of course when I see the interior views from a housewarming invitation in January

[bazzor]

Having been to New York and seen many amazing pictures of architecture from around the world I feel Manchester has acquired a monster, is that the best we can do, have we gone backwards in design, I’m sure the interiors will be fitted with all the modern requirements but from the outside I’m afraid it’s an incredibly ugly monstrosity…there is absolutely no beauty glowing from that building what so ever, not for me anyway!

[aidanorourke]

This week I attended two discussions at CUBE Portland St Manchester about tall buildings in Manchester.

I learned a great deal, and discovered, from architect Ian Simpson himself, that the correct name for the Beetham Tower or the Beetham Hilton tower is in fact:

The Hilton Tower

View my reports on the CUBE discussions on tall buildings in Manchester.

[ihough]

For a short while when I was a kid, I lived in Pendlebury, right across the street from Agecroft colliery.

The buildings that housed the elevator machinery for the pit had that same lop-sidededness to them. They were like little blocks of flats, with funny tiny windows here and there, and as a kid I found them odd and slightly threatening.

The Beetham tower very much reminds me of those sinister, grey looming monsters, and whether that's deliberate (post-industrialism?) I don't know, but its asymmetric appearance is a bit uncomfortable to me, to be honest.

[richardhigham]

I think from working in the surroundings of Hilton Manchester Deansgate, that the hotel is not only a wonderful place just to come and visit, if not for the spectacular views, but also the wonderful surroundings. The hotel boasts many wonderful features such as the magnificent Cloud 23 Bar, but also a wonderful and warm atmosphere by all the staff that meet and greet you on and around the hotel.

Therefore the hotel may not look the best in the city, but it is a wonderful and spectacular hotel. And I only wish that I had the immediate cash that would allow me to own a prestigious apartments at the prestigious building that is Beetham Tower, Deansgate, Manchester.

Thanks

Richard Higham

[aidanorourke]

It's good to hear some positive words about the tower and in particular, the Hilton Hotel, and Cloud 23 bar, which I've not visited yet.

Let's not forget what was on the site before, a set of arches, part of the railway viaduct leading to the long-disused Great Northern Railway Goods Warehouse.

Under the arches was the Bauer Millett motor dealership.

The Hilton could have put a low-rise building on the site, maybe one like that multi-colour floodlit breezblock creation by the Mancunian Way Princess Rd roundabout.

Instead they decided to seize the opportunity, and make a high-rise building. The tower may not be as curvy as the Gherkin, or as design-led as the Civil Justice Centre, but it's impressive and is seen clearly by millions of people every day.

Whether you like them or not, tall buildings are here to stay in Manchester, The Beetham Hilton is just the first of the recent crop, not forgetting the CIS, Sunley aka City Tower and others from the 60s.

[d moose]

I think that beyond the hilton being an "ugly building" it is an extremely important symbol that is representative of the cities growth and emergance as a hub of various expanding and modern industries, prior to the hiltons existence, investment in the city was rapidly increasing and the aspirations of manchesters people were (for me) at a memorable high at the time, the emergance of this new structure made great headway in galvanising the minds of investors toward new programmes that sought to bring wealth to different areas,
I think after completion there was a new momentum to the city, away from "grim up north" stereotypes the city could now be looked at in terms of where it would or could be in ten or twenty years time....blah blah blah

plus the views from the upper floors are stunning,with the bowl of the srrounding peninnes almost palpable and the cheshire planes stretching out towards the (visible) welsh hills (not to mention the city itself from the northern windows)

[mr angry]

I an going to be controversial on this topic. I HATE modern architecture with a passion and a vengence.

In my opinion, almost all which has been built in Manchester since the 90s is just horrible and the city is being ruined by developers.

I like 18th, 19th and early 20th century buildings and I think the current building boom is simplt replacing concrete eyesores with glass ones. My feeling is that if you can not design an attractive building and architects now obviously cant, then just build something inoffensive which blends in.

To be fair, some buildings in the late'70s and early 80s were OK, they were brick and matched their surroundings. Two examples are the brick office buildings opposite the town hall in Albert Square

Will someone stop this ugliness of steel and glass please???