A collaboration with Schmidt Hammer Lassen commissioned as part of the university’s 2030 strategic vision, the development will act as a city-wide landmark and welcoming front door to the university campus, while sign-posting the region’s internationally acclaimed Knowledge Quarter.

The iconic new building will feature digitally enabled teaching and research facilities to enhance students’ data science and analytical skills, flexible break-out spaces to support collaboration and nurture ideas, and a new home for the Manchester Poetry Library, the North West’s first public poetry library. It will also house a new gallery and event spaces designed for both public and University use.

The design redefines the library concept, taking the form of a ‘tower and tail’ cut with bold geometric slices; clear and vibrant glazed slots hint at the diversity of activities on offer within, softened by circular-coloured lenses.

The tower is set to raise the library’s profile both physically and metaphorically, rising above and beyond the Mancunian Way. The tail will ground the library as a building in the round of the historic locale of All Saints, further defining the place and presenting an active frontage to the park.