This major extension to the Manchester School of Art by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has provided an engaging and lively environment for students and staff to work and study and has helped re-assert both the Art School and the University’s profile. Manchester School of Art is the second oldest design school in Britain, established in the 1830s to provide design training to the manufacturing industry.

“It is a building that is proud of its product and shows the work to everyone... It’s a hugely exciting arena where anything is possible and everything is relevant.”

David Crow, Dean of Manchester School of Art

Based in the heart of Manchester, the School of Art is a pioneer of art and design education in the UK, celebrating its 175th Anniversary in 2013. The school was established in the 19th Century to help keep the region competitive in an international market and support regional industry in a wider marketplace. This remains an important objective for the Art School and a key part of the brief was to help it bridge the gap between education and professional life.

The architects at FCB Studios designed a highly visible new vertical gallery space which acts as a shop window providing a showcase for the School of Art to the university and the wider city. Behind the gallery is an interactive ‘hybrid’ studio designed to break down traditional hierarchies and foster creative collaboration between disciplines instead.

Description of project by FCB Studios

Design approach


Our approach was to express a modern interpretation of the traditional warehouse typology which made Manchester such a success through its textile trade in the 19th century.

The new built element of the project comprises two key elements. The first is the working heart of the building comprising open studios, workshops and teaching spaces known as the Design Shed.

The second is the seven-storey Vertical Gallery - the link between the existing 1960s arts tower and the new studio building. This gallery provides a showcase space for students’ creations and a shop window for the faculty itself.

Concept

The aim of the new building is to celebrate the commonalities of the various art and design disciplines and encourage students to work alongside each other and enjoy the crossover in an open, terraced hybrid environment, rather than working in the silos common to many art and design establishments.

With its vast glazed façade, it is also a building that proudly showcases its students’ work to all who pass by, it is a ‘Window on the Arts’.

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Architects
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Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.
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Collaborators
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Project Manager.- Turner & Townsend.
Structural Engineer.- Arup.
M&E Engineer.- Arup.
CDM Consultant.- Turner & Townsend.
Cost Consultant.- Turner & Townsend.
Landscape Architect.- Dan Pearson Studio.
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Client
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Manchester Metropolitan University.
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Contractor
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Morgan Sindall.
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Dates
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Completion.- April 2013.
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Location
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Manchester.
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Budget
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£23,000,000.
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Photography
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Hufton+Crow.
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Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios are an award-winning architectural practice with an international reputation for design quality, for pioneering environmental expertise and a progressive architectural approach.

Peter Clegg established the practice with Richard Feilden in 1978. Regarded as a key pioneer in environmental design, he has more than 30 years' experience in low energy architecture and is actively involved in research, design and education. Peter works primarily in the education and cultural sectors. He has led projects at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, London’s Southbank Centre, Brighton Dome and the development of the new Leventis gallery in Cyprus. He is Chair of the RIBA Awards Panel, the South West Design Review Panel, holds a professorship at Bath University, and in 2009 was made a Royal Designer for Industry.

Keith Bradley joined the practice in 1987, was made a Partner in 1995, and set up our London Studio in 1998. He has since led many of our award-winning projects, including the RIBA Stirling Prize for the Accordia Housing Project in Cambridge. His recent work has encompassed major urban regeneration schemes throughout the UK, together with public museums, galleries, and academic institutions, including university projects in London, Manchester and Belfast. Keith holds the honour of being Chair of the Design Council CABE Design Review Panel, is guest lecturer at various schools of architecture, and a regular speaker at national and international conferences.

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