Granada TV buildings to go?

[Sparkly]

How-Do - Arora believed to have bid £100m plus for Granada site - North West Media News

I've not heard anything about this but it seems the Quay street site has been on the market for 3 years. Does this mean the main building will go?

I've always liked the Granada TV building. Not exactly iconic or particularly special, but certainly a Manchester landmark I think. The inside always seemed like a cross between an ant nest and beehive when I went to watch shows being made in the 80/90's. Being rushed through the building by a runner, you caught quick glimpses of other productions, especially as the secondary function of a corridor often seemed to be as storage for props and racks of clothes. It all looked very chaotic at times. I wonder if custom built (aka Mediacity) production facilities will have the same atmosphere? I went on a tour of CNN in Atlanta recently, and despite being able to see many of the facilities through balcony viewing windows, other than a few cameras, it had more in common with a normal office building than backstage at the 'telly'.

[aidanorourke]

The Granada Building is - to use that over-used word - iconic - for many reasons. It was the first modernist style building to be constructed in Manchester. It dates from the first half of the 1950s, when there were no other buildings like it around.

http://www.aidan.co.uk/data_sheetMan...Vw5622.jpg.htm

The Granada logo, still on the roof, is another icon of Manchester, synonymous with local and national broadcasting for the last 50 years.

http://www.aidan.co.uk/data_sheetMan...e99211.jpg.htm

Is the building important enough to retain and renovate, or should it be swept away like so many other symbols of Manchester's media past, such as Northcliffe House on Deansgate?

[Phil Blinkhorn]

Granada have been planning a move for some time see:Historic move for Granada TV - News - Manchester Evening News
I assume this idea has either been rejected or is in abeyance.

A move to media city, particularly with the current methods of sourcing and producing programmes between rival TV transmittiing companies where BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and a host of independents produce for each other, seems logical.

The Quay St building, one of the first curtain wall buildings in the North West is not listed and, as the site is in an upcoming and valuable part of the city the chances are that, with current technology, the need for anything large to be built on the site for TV use is very small.

In many ways it will be a shame to see it go but if it has both outlived its usefulness and cannot be modernised for the purpose for which it was intended, there is litlle validity in keeping it, other than as another iconic monument.

[aidanorourke]

Yes, there is always this dilemma when confronted with a building like this. Should it be saved or should it be replaced? If every single old building was preserved, then the city wouldn't be able to renew itself properly and move forward. But if every single old building is demolished, then it can be traumatic for people in the city. Continuity is important.

http://www.aidan.co.uk/data_sheetMan...cd6909.jpg.htm

In the case of the John Rylands Library there is obviously no question that it should be kept. And in the case of the old two storey brick hovels off Cheetham Hill Rd, that were demolished in 2002, there is no question there either.

But the in-between buildings... Who is to decide what stays? And what goes?

[rgsuk]

Originally Posted by aidanorourke

The Granada Building is - to use that over-used word - iconic - for many reasons. It was the first modernist style building to be constructed in Manchester. It dates from the first half of the 1950s, when there were no other buildings like it around.

The office block with the sign on the roof was under construction in 1960:

Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council

The low building on the other side of Quay Street dates from earlier.

[mr angry]

I would be sorry to see this go as well. Commercial developments in Manchester is getting out of control and I do not agree that the city would be unable to move forward if everything was preserved.

Refurbish, modernise and re use old buildings, build a new high tech interior onto an existing frontage. Continuity is vital, without it people become disorientated and unsettled and I get angry!

[Gibbo]

Can anyone tell me when the 'mast' style structure disappeared from Granada?

[Edward Smith]

I've noticed the mast tower has gone from the building. I took this picture last year in June and you can see it in front of the Beetham Tower.

Panoramio - Photo of Beetham Tower, seen From Peel Park, Salford.

And the mast was still there then. So it has disappeared sometime in the last 12 months.

I was saddened to see it has gone, because it's one of those features i have known ever since i was a child, and it used to fascinate me when i was a child every time i looked at it.

[Ashtonian]

Originally Posted by Edward Smith

I've noticed the mast tower has gone from the building. I took this picture last year in June and you can see it in front of the Beetham Tower.

Panoramio - Photo of Beetham Tower, seen From Peel Park, Salford.

And the mast was still there then. So it has disappeared sometime in the last 12 months.

I was saddened to see it has gone, because it's one of those features i have known ever since i was a child, and it used to fascinate me when i was a child every time i looked at it.

That's a enjoyable photo!
I had to look a second time before in saw the Granada TV tower.