Sunlight House

Sunlight House

Sunlight House
Location of Sunlight House within Greater Manchester
General information
Architectural style Art deco
Address Quay Street,
Manchester
Coordinates
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]

References

  1. ^ a b Sunlight House, Heritage Gateway, http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=456846&resourceID=5, retrieved 26 December 2009 
  2. ^ a b Hartwell, Clare (2001), Manchester, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Penguin Books, p. 252, ISBN 9780140711318 
  3. ^ 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 
  4. ^ Parkinson-Bailey, John (2000), Manchester: an architectural history, Manchester University Press, p. 144, ISBN 9780719056062 
  5. ^ a b Thame, David (6 December 2005), New era for Sunlight after GBP159m deal, Manchester Evening News