This system of planning, which comes from America, is especially suitable for the great retail store, for it is an extremely convenient arrangement for the shopkeeper to have at his disposal an immense unencum
bered floor space which he can dispose of in any manner he chooses. The merchandise can be placed in stalls approached by long corridors, themselves con
stituting miniature arcades, while, of course, the task of supervision is greatly facilitated by the absence of partition walls. In the case of Messrs. Lewis’s estab
lishment, on the ground floor no less than seven entrances are provided, from Fountain Street, Market Street and West Mosley Street, while on the Marble Street frontage there is a commodious arcade providing covered space for two rows of vehicles which dis
charge immediately upon receiving and dispatch platforms. There are seven floors open to the public, and a sub-basement and a smaller top floor for administrative purposes. Cloak rooms and lavatories are provided for the staff on each floor, and there are a large staff dining room, rest room, and welfare rooms. Nineteen new passenger lifts, each capable of carrying 30 people, have been installed in the centre of the building, while there are escalators from the ground to the third floor. A special feature of the building is the large concert hall in the fourth storey, which has marble walls and a spring dancing floor capable of being made rigid when not used for danc
ing. The accompanying illustration shows a fine vaulted chamber, of which the coffered saucer dome,
pierced by a large eye, is the most conspicuous feature. Externally the building cannot be said to possess a highly distinguished appearance. The sur
face of the façade appears to be too much broken, and owing to the multiplicity of small rectangular win
dows set very close together, the plane of the wall has been insufficiently established. The main cornice is surmounted by no less than three attics, of which the two uppermost are marked by very flimsy iron balustrades which are far too insignificant to form an effectual crowning feature to such an important building. It must be confessed that while the plan
ning and general equipment of the structure are quite
excellent, as far as the elevations are concerned, a great architectural opportunity has been missed.
Another prominent commercial building is Tortworth House, Market Street, designed by Messrs.
Halliday, Paterson & Agate. This is a conveniently planned structure, of which the ground floor is devoted to shops, while the storeys above are utilised
for offices, to which access is obtained from pavement level by a side door leading to a staircase hall lit from
a small area. Here again there is displayed the same tendency to provide unencumbered floor space which can be sub-divided in accordance with the needs of the several tenants. The elevations show a heavy stone frontage apparently superimposed upon a ground floor storey of glass. It is quite possible that the client insisted upon every square foot of ex
ternal wall surface in the ground floor storey being devoted to window for the display of merchandise, and so perhaps the architects are not themselves respon
sible for the lack of homogeneity between the base of the building and its superstructure, but neverthe
less the disparity of treatment is a noticeable blemish for which any virtues attaching to the composition
and detail of the upper part of the building provide inadequate compensation.
Midland Bank House, Cross Street, Manchester, by
Messrs. J. C. Prestwich & Sons, another important
TORTWORTH HOUSE, MANCHESTER.
Messes. Halliday, Pateeson & Agate, Architects.
bered floor space which he can dispose of in any manner he chooses. The merchandise can be placed in stalls approached by long corridors, themselves con
stituting miniature arcades, while, of course, the task of supervision is greatly facilitated by the absence of partition walls. In the case of Messrs. Lewis’s estab
lishment, on the ground floor no less than seven entrances are provided, from Fountain Street, Market Street and West Mosley Street, while on the Marble Street frontage there is a commodious arcade providing covered space for two rows of vehicles which dis
charge immediately upon receiving and dispatch platforms. There are seven floors open to the public, and a sub-basement and a smaller top floor for administrative purposes. Cloak rooms and lavatories are provided for the staff on each floor, and there are a large staff dining room, rest room, and welfare rooms. Nineteen new passenger lifts, each capable of carrying 30 people, have been installed in the centre of the building, while there are escalators from the ground to the third floor. A special feature of the building is the large concert hall in the fourth storey, which has marble walls and a spring dancing floor capable of being made rigid when not used for danc
ing. The accompanying illustration shows a fine vaulted chamber, of which the coffered saucer dome,
pierced by a large eye, is the most conspicuous feature. Externally the building cannot be said to possess a highly distinguished appearance. The sur
face of the façade appears to be too much broken, and owing to the multiplicity of small rectangular win
dows set very close together, the plane of the wall has been insufficiently established. The main cornice is surmounted by no less than three attics, of which the two uppermost are marked by very flimsy iron balustrades which are far too insignificant to form an effectual crowning feature to such an important building. It must be confessed that while the plan
ning and general equipment of the structure are quite
excellent, as far as the elevations are concerned, a great architectural opportunity has been missed.
Another prominent commercial building is Tortworth House, Market Street, designed by Messrs.
Halliday, Paterson & Agate. This is a conveniently planned structure, of which the ground floor is devoted to shops, while the storeys above are utilised
for offices, to which access is obtained from pavement level by a side door leading to a staircase hall lit from
a small area. Here again there is displayed the same tendency to provide unencumbered floor space which can be sub-divided in accordance with the needs of the several tenants. The elevations show a heavy stone frontage apparently superimposed upon a ground floor storey of glass. It is quite possible that the client insisted upon every square foot of ex
ternal wall surface in the ground floor storey being devoted to window for the display of merchandise, and so perhaps the architects are not themselves respon
sible for the lack of homogeneity between the base of the building and its superstructure, but neverthe
less the disparity of treatment is a noticeable blemish for which any virtues attaching to the composition
and detail of the upper part of the building provide inadequate compensation.
Midland Bank House, Cross Street, Manchester, by
Messrs. J. C. Prestwich & Sons, another important
TORTWORTH HOUSE, MANCHESTER.
Messes. Halliday, Pateeson & Agate, Architects.