Beetham Tower, Manchester

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Beetham Tower Manchester, also known as Hilton Manchester, is a mixed-use skyscraper in Manchester, England. Built in 2006, it is named after the developers, Beetham Organization, and was designed by Ian Simpson and built by West Midlands-based firm Carillion^[2], and contains factory manufactured Bathroom pods made by East Yorkshire based Gateway pods. It is the tallest building in Manchester by a considerable margin. It consists of a Hilton Hotel up to level 23 and apartments from level 24 upwards. There are also 2 basement levels which contain car parking for the residents of the apartments.

The tower lies on Deansgate and has two postal addresses, with the apartments falling under 301 Deansgate and the hotel under 303 Deansgate. Widely referred to as Beetham Tower, it is also known colloquially as the Hilton Tower thanks to the corporate logos placed on the 24th storey plant floor on each side of the building.

[edit] Setting

Located along Deansgate at the junction with Great Bridgewater Street, it has 48 floors and is 169 metres (554 ft) in height, making it the tallest building in the UK outside of London and the UK's 7th tallest building. This is the tallest building in Manchester having overtaking the CIS Tower. In comparison, the UK's tallest building, One Canada Square, is 235 metres (771 ft) tall.

The tower contains a hotel accommodation for the first 22-floors, and a bar and lounge on the 23rd floor, both operated by Hilton; and residential apartments from the 24th floor up to the 48th floor. The hotel opened and received its first guests on 9 October, 2006 with the first apartment residents moving in during 2007.

The tower had its official "topping-out" ceremony on 26 April, 2006. Due to local wind conditions, the building's height had to be reduced by just over 2 metres from its originally planned height of 171 metres (561 ft).^[1]

The architect, Ian Simpson, bought and resides on the top floor penthouse which is the highest living space in Britain. It features a semi internal garden containing 21, 4 metre high olive, lemon and oak trees shipped from Italy and craned into the building before the roof was built. The penthouse covers the top two stories of the building.

The tower offers views of the set of Coronation Street and on a clear day, it is also possible to see the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, much of the Cheshire Plain, the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, and the mountains of Snowdonia.

[edit] Noise problems

During the installation of the glass and steel 'blade' on the roof, a strange noise problem emerged. People reported that the building "whistles" (more like an intermittent hum) in windy weather. The sound is close to standard musical C (approximately 262 Hertz); some say it is like a "UFO landing" in sci-fi films. ^[3] The noise also affected the production of local soap opera, Coronation Street with producers having to create extra background noise as the tower is close to the show's set. Despite apparently rectifying the problem, the humming sound can still be heard on occasion in the area, depending on wind direction.

[edit] Other Problems

Many residents of districts close to the city centre, including the Hulme area of Manchester, report a significant loss of television reception following construction of the tower.^[4] Effects have been reported as far away as Whalley Range.

[edit] Other towers with same name

• Beetham Tower
• Beetham Tower, Birmingham
• Beetham Tower, Liverpool

[edit] See also

• No. 1 Deansgate, another glass residential building on the same road, also designed by Ian Simpson
• Piccadilly Tower, a similar hotel/residential skyscraper proposed for Manchester

[edit] Construction gallery

Mid-Late 2006.

Construction complete.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Beetham Tower, Manchester at www.skyscrapernews.com
• Detailed discussions and photo updates following the tower's construction, 2005-2007
• Beetham Organization homepage (requires flash-player)
• Ian Simpson Architects (requires flash-player)
• General Beetham Tower photographs

Coordinates: 53°28′31″N, 2°15′01″W