Ian Simpson Architects, Buildings, Photos, News, Design, Projects, Office, Studio Contemporary Architecture Practice, Manchester, England, UK e-architect			World Architecture : index Architecture News World Buildings
Ian Simpson Architects : Architecture Information + Images
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 Ltd - 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 : MTI building Leicester tower building : No.1 Westbridge, Leicester, England images unveiled Aug 2006 More projects online soon 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 - museum, exhibition & conference centre, England 2002 building photo © adrian welch Ian Simpson Architects : Urbis No.1 Deansgate, Manchester, England 2002 Ian Simpson Architects building photo © adrian welch Practice Information 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 he 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 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. Ian Simpson 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 : Urbis and No. 1 Deansgate Ian Simpson Architects: Riverside, 4 Commercial St, Manchester, UK Manchester Architects Roses Design Awards - see Architecture Competitions Manchester Buildings World Architecture : e-architect - key buildings across the globe 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			Key Links: Skyscrapers New Houses Zaha Hadid Herzog de Meuron Foster + Partners London Architecture Peter Zumthor Architects Office Buildings Architects