Quay West

A nine-storey office building designed by Ratcliff Partnership (later Ratcliff Groves) as part of Trafford Park Development Corporation’s activities running in parallel with those of Salford Quays. The developers were Ship Canal Investments and the scheme was built by G.R. Morris Construction. Entirety clad in LITE Pink Rosa SS508 tempered glass (a high-performance solar control product from St. Gobain) using an Italian framing system called Panorami by Focchi. It was imported from the US, rolled in Holland and installed by the Italians. Three and a half decades later, the system, reputed to be thermally and acoustically superior, has stood the test of time and the building proved worth the £14m price tag. Its pinkness was part of its marketing. As Environment Minister, David Trippier, turned the first ceremonial sod on the construction site in 1989, he was backgrounded by hoardings covered in flamingos as guests sipped pink champagne [1]. Interiors featured ‘top quality’ marble staircases, fountains and planters [2]. This is Manchester’s peak commercial PoMo.

[1] ‘Pink-letter day for Quay West’s rebirth’, Manchester Evening News, 18 February 1989, p.3

[2] ‘Spectacular’, Manchester Evening News, 12 March 1991, p.21