IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Charlotte Street, MANCHESTER, M1 4FL

Mid-C19th stone ex-warehouse, possibly designed by Edward Walters. Pevsner describes it thus: "texture is carefully controlled: rusticated basement, channelled ground floor, four storeys above, with ranks of windows between superimposed pilasters". Grade II listed. This is in Chinatown and the ground floor is occupied by a Chinese restaurant.

The old brick and stone buildings are mainly occupied by Chinese businesses with a tall modern block beyond.

Looking up the street towards the City Tower Image which overlooks Piccadilly Gardens.

Former warehouse, built c1856-58, with stone ground floor with a tall arcade, alternating pediments to second-floor windows, and a line of chimneys. The two at the corner are disposed in such a way as to mirror the splayed corner below. Grade II listed. One of a fine series of mid-C19th former warehouses on the south side of the street, built between c1850-65 to the designs of Edward Walters "in his personal and highly influential interpretation of the palazzo style" (Pevsner). Almost all occupy a whole block (to allow access to loading bays at the side), are of fine brick with stone dressings, and of five storeys and basement. "What matters in all is the conscientious and discriminating decoration, the amount of which depended on the purse of the client."

Part of Manchester's "Chinatown" district. On the right is the Woo Sang restaurant. The skyscraper in the background, to the left of the picture, is the City Tower (Image]) at Piccadilly Gardens.

View looking down George Street from Charlotte Street.

Winter views often mean sharp contrast between sunlit upper buildings and deep shade at street level.

Excellent former warehouse built c1865 with a stone ground floor and quoins. Pevsner comments on the use of sills and window pediments to "create a sophisticated interplay between vertical and horizontal." Grade II listed. One of a fine series of mid-C19th former warehouses on the south side of the street, built between c1850-65 to the designs of Edward Walters "in his personal and highly influential interpretation of the palazzo style" (Pevsner). Almost all occupy a whole block (to allow access to loading bays at the side), are of fine brick with stone dressings, and of five storeys and basement. "What matters in all is the conscientious and discriminating decoration, the amount of which depended on the purse of the client."

A slab-and-podium office block built in 1964 to the designs of Gunton & Gunton. Like a lot of Manchester's 1960s towers it has recently been refurbished, in this case reclad in 2003. Such work always seem to entail the loss of simple clean lines and the addition of fussy details, and while this is no exception, it's not a bad job.