Ian Simpson Architects - Building News:
National Wildflower Centre International Competition Winner, Liverpool, UK
National Wildflower Centre
Argyle International Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland
image from ian simpson architects 310507
Jumeirah Glasgow Hotel - Ian Simpson Architects : Glasgow hotel
Owen Street development, Manchester, England
2008-
Planning approval Jan 2008
Beetham Tower, London, UK
London skyscraper : Planning approved Jul 2007
52 storeys – orig. 68 storeys
Tower proposal - former brewery site redevelopment, Newcastle, England
Albany Tower – proposal, Aytoun St, Piccadilly, central Manchester
2007-
43-54 storeys, tbc
residential + office tower
Former DSS office site
Developer: Albany Assets Limited
Planning application submitted
Ancoats Hospital development, New Islington Master Plan
Developer: Urban Splash
Former Ancoats Hospital building refurbishment + 2 new buildings
178 apartments
Beetham Tower, Manchester
building photo © adrian welch
Ian Simpson Architects : Beetham Tower Manchester
2 - 4 Chester Road, Castlefield Basin apartments, central Manchester
Wilmot St development - adj. Mancunian Way, central Manchester
£30m approx.
Developer: Downing Developments
offices + apartments incl. 30 storey tower
Lumiere Tower, Leeds, England
image from ian simpson architects 170107
Ian Simpson Architects : Lumiere Tower
Chambers Wharf, Bermondsey, southeast London
-
approx. 700 residential units
1 Blackfriars Road – Beetham tower, east London
-
52 storeys
Ossington Court, south Manchester
Redevelopment of existing 1960’s residential tower/slab block
Manchester Transport Interchange
Ian Simpson Architects up to Stage C; Jefferson Sheard Architects
Manchester Transport Interchange - Building Image: Daniel Hopkinson
Ian Simpson : Manchester building
Leicester tower building : No.1 Westbridge, Leicester, England
images unveiled Aug 2006
All the buildings listed below are in England, UK
Ian Simpson - key Buildings (chronological):
Urbis, Manchester: 2002
No.1 Deansgate, Manchester: 2002
Holloway Circus, Birmingham: 2005
2-4 Chester Road, Castlefield, Manchester: 2005-
Beetham Tower, Manchester: 2006
Crown Building, central/north Manchester: 2006-
ATS Site, central/south Manchester: 2006-
Gallowgate, Newcastle: 2006-
Criterion Place, Leeds: 2006-
Beetham tower, 1 Blackfriars Road, Southbank, London: 2006-
Ian Simpson - other Buildings (chronological):
Green Room Theatre, Manchester: 1996
Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester: 1996
Merchant's Warehouse, Castlefield, Manchester: 1997/98
Focus Foyer building, Birmingham: 1998
Grand Apartments: 2000
Manchester Museum, Manchester: 2003
Jam Factory: 2003
Trinity College, Cambridge: 2004
New Islington apartments, Manchester: 2005
Bury New Road, Salford: 2006-
Ossington Court, south Manchester: 2006-
Transport Interchange, Manchester: 2005
Northgate Office Building, Chester: 2006-
Urbis Manchester
building photo © adrian welch
museum, exhibition and conference centre
2002
Ian Simpson Architects: Urbis Manchester
No.1 Deansgate Manchester
2002
Ian Simpson Architects
building photo © adrian welch
Ian Simpson Architects - Background:
Ian Simpson in some ways has become the ambassador for skyscrapers in the UK in recent years. With numerous projects for tall buildings Ian has obviously featured in the news quite a bit, Britain always struggles with contemporary architecture but when it comes in the shape of a skyscraper you're almost guaranteed long delays and lots of mudslinging.
The tall buildings completed and designed by Ian Simpson should be being encouraged by the authorities as the design quality is high. Buildings like No.1 Deansgate have poise and style. Cities should be denser (Rogers / UTF) to prevent sprawl and consequent loss of green belt / countryside so well-designed tall buildings I feel should be encouraged provided they show sensitivity relative to their context. For example a skyscraper would not be appropriate on the ridge of the Old Town in Edinburgh but would look great in many central parts of Liverpool.
Ian Simpson's tall buildings are often angular and a world away from the dull prefab rectilinear towers of the sixties. For example Chester Road is facated like a jewel and the Criterion Place project in Leeds has two towers almost 'kissing' using sheared angles in the sections facing each other (Norman Foster tried something along these lines with his Freedom Tower proposal for New York).
At the same time Ian Simpson has the skill to work with listed buildings such as his sensitive Merchant's Warehouse project in Castlefield. As a student at Manchester University I was fond of this (ruinous) building and bridges nearby but this listed 1827 brick warehouse fist in well to a rejuvenated quarter of Manchester and gets the balance right I feel between protecting and contemporary expression.
Ian Simpson Skyscrapers - Storeys:
Gallowgate, Newcastle - 58 storeys
Brunswick Quay - 50 storeys
Beetham Tower, Manchester - 48 storeys
Criterion Place, Leeds - 47 + 29 storeys
Crown Building - 43 storeys
ATS Site tower - 30 storeys
Ian Simpson Architects were finalists in the World Trade Centre architecture
competition: Freedom Tower New York
New York Skyscrapers
Ian Simpson - key Projects (ie not completed buildings):
Sportcity, Manchester: -2008
Brunswick Quay, Liverpool: possibly never to be realised
Manchester office: 0161 835 2345
London: 020 7278 0128
mail@iansimpsonarchitects.com
Contact details correct at time of writing
Ian Simpson Architects are apparently working on a project in Glasgow according to reports in Dec 2004: request acknowledged, signed off details online upon receipt, no further details available, Aug 2005; Feb 2006.
Ian Simpson: Roses Awards Winner
Ian Simpson Architects win the Roses Design Awards 2002: PR
No.1 Deansgate, the radical glass residential block by Ian Simpson Architects, picked up one of the architecture awards at this year’s Roses Design Awards at the Manchester Palace. The controversial 22-storey block marks a real departure from the traditional approach to inner city housing.
Ian Simpson said that the local council had fought hard to convince commercial operators in the area that a residential development was appropriate on the site and suggested that his glass tower might prove to be a model for inner city residential developments of the future. He rebutted critics that argue the tower is too big and that it fails to respond to its context.
“You could have brick built housing with punched windows and a zinc roof, but I think Manchester, and for that matter, Leeds and Glasgow, deserve better than that. Deansgate is not a monument to me, or the practice, there are architects that do that sort of thing. It is one of those special incidents in the city, we wanted to create something special for the city.”
Ian Simpson is not afraid of tall buildings, he is currently designing the tallest building in Birmingham. His practice recently won seventh place in the competition to design the new World Trade Centre in New York, against stiff extremely stiff international competition.
The Deansgate housing scheme shared the top prize for housing with Stephenson Bell Architects who designed a social housing project in Chorlton. Stephenson Bell picked up another award in the commercial architecture category for the KRO2 bar on Manchester’s Oxford Road.
This is the first year that the Roses Design Awards included an architecture category, which was judged by a separate panel, chaired by George Ferguson, President-elect of RIBA. The architecture judges, after considerable debate, decided not to give any award in the public building category.
The Roses Awards are the top awards for the creative industries outside of the M25 and have been organised to prove that there is creative life outside of London. They are organised by the Carnyx Group from Glasgow.
Roses Design Awards Results
Best Residential Project: Ian Simpson Architects for No.1 Deansgate and Stephenson Bell Architects for Chorlton Park Housing.
Best Commercial Project: Stephenson Bell Architects – KRO2
Urban Splash – Tea Factory
Best Regeneration Scheme: BCA Landscape – Campbell Square
Roses Design Awards - Building PR re Ian Simpson Architects: 10 Oct 2002
Key Ian Simpson Architects buildings include Urbis and No. 1 Deansgate, both in Manchester
Ian Simpson Architects: Riverside, 4 Commercial St, Manchester, UK
Roses Design Awards - see Architecture Competitions
Manchester Buildings
World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe
Manchester Architects
Buildings / photos for the Ian Simpson Architecture page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
Ian Simpson buildings - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
Ian Simpson Architects - Website: www.iansimpsonarchitects.com