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The University of Manchester
UMIST merge with the Manchester Victoria University, sparking the £300 million modernisation of the university campus, that leads to the Maths Tower being one of the first buildings to be condemned to demolition. -
Plans to demolish maths tower revealed
In December 2004 plans to demolish the University's maths tower were revealed, to mixed responses. Many were against the demolition as they felt the tower was a landmark for both the University and Manchester as a whole. Having been built in the sixties, some people opposed its demolition as they felt the building had not outlived its life expectancy - and refurbishment or regeneration of the building would better promote sustainable practice and developments. -
Goodbye to the Maths Tower
Staff, mathematicians and other people associated with the building hold a celebration party to say goodbye to the maths tower; many were sad to see it go. PicturesStaff -
Phil Griffin Article
Phil Griffin is a freelance writer who specialises in urban and architectural issues, writing a number of articles for architecture journals. He was born in Ancoats, East Manchester, so the Manchester skyline is an issue that is close to his heart. After the revelation that the University's Maths Tower was to be demolished, he wrote an article condeming the decision and expressing his outrage that such a beautiful, landmark building was going to be taken down. -
Demolition begins
The slow process of demolition of the maths tower began in March 2005, marking the end of an era. Many people's professional opinion was that it remembered a legacy of brutalist 60s architecture and had a uniqueness that made it stand out from the crowd of other 60s buildings in the city. Architecture journals referred to this as the "death" of the tower. -
Maths tower demolition completed
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Funding awarded
The Institute of Health Sciences was awarded £1.5 million by the Wolfson Foundation, to help create state-of-the-art headquarters in the new ‘SCAN’ building complex, late to become University Place. The complex is revealed to comprise a drum shaped building. see http://www.mhs.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/ihs for info on ihs - an actor (and its chair) -
University Debt sparks Job Losses
The debt created by the development scheme, over £10m more than originally estimated within the budget, led to a number of job losses. Staff who were laid off felt that this was unfair. "I'm being made redundant by the University, along with my colleagues....The University may have over 600million pounds worth of new buildings but without support, teaching and other staff to use them how much worth will it really be?" -
New building given name "University Place"
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Completion.
University Place building completed. -
Manchester Modernist Society's response
The Manchester Modernist Society lamented the loss of the Maths Tower, and made their views known. They called it a "veritable symbol of modernism", pointing out that it would be sorely missed, and that its loss would be mourned. -
Student Reviews
Reviews of University Place online show that the building has been met positively by a number of students. Several mention the imposing form of the building, but none remember the former Maths Tower. http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/university-place-manchester
