Quay Street
Encyclopedia
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England. The street continues Peter Street westwards towards Salford. Spinningfields
Spinningfields
Spinningfields is a large business, retail and residential development in Manchester, England that lies in the western portion of the City Centre, between south Deansgate and the River Irwell. The Spinningfields complex is the masterplan of Allied London Properties, a London-based property...
, Manchester's new business district, is to the north and Castlefield
Castlefield
Castlefield is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and the Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester...
, the historical area of the city to the south. It was created in the 18th century for access to a new quay on the River Irwell.
The street is most famously known for Granada Studios
The Manchester Studios
The Manchester Studios is a television studio on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and film drama programmes. The studios have been home to Granada Television since its inception in 1954...
, the UK's first purpose built television studios in 1954 and home to Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
- it was one of ITA
Ita
Ita or ITA may refer to:* Itá, Paraguay* ITA Software, Inc., a travel industry software firm* Italian language, from its ISO 639-2 language code* Italy, from its ISO 3166-1 country code* Aeta, an ethnic group in the Philippine Islands...
's original franchises and the only one to survive into the 21st century. Granada was also ITV's last franchisee in 2004 and was generally regarded as ITV's most successful franchise.
Notable buildings
The Opera House (formerly the New Theatre) is in Quay Street; Cobden's House was the original home of Owens College; the Hospital for Skin Diseases was also in Quay Street.The street is home to Granada Studios
The Manchester Studios
The Manchester Studios is a television studio on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and film drama programmes. The studios have been home to Granada Television since its inception in 1954...
which is the home of Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, where the long-running soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
is filmed. In 2009 it was rumoured that Granada would be moving to the nearby MediaCityUK facilities in Salford Quays
Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...
; however ITV chief operating officer John Cresswell told staff they would stay at their current Quay Street location for the "foreseeable future".
On September 25, 2010, the red 'Granada TV' sign were removed due to "health and safety" reasons. According to a spokesperson for ITV: "During routine maintenance of the Quay Street building the roof signage and its fixtures were found to be extensively corroded. As a result, the signs have been taken down for health and safety reasons."
Quay Street Tower
Architect Joseph SunlightJoseph Sunlight
Joseph Sunlight , was a Russian/ English architect whose energy amassed him a great fortune in Manchester and left at least one fine building in Sunlight House....
, built Sunlight House
Sunlight House
Sunlight House is a Grade II listed art deco office building on Quay Street, Manchester, England.Built in 1932 by Joseph Sunlight, it is constructed of steel and concrete and clad in Portland stone. On completion,...
on Quay Street, and had planned to build the Quay Street Tower, a 360 feet (109.7 m) highrise art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building behind Sunlight House. However permission was refused and it was said to be inconsiderate as Manchester was still rebuilding from the Blitz
Manchester Blitz
The Manchester Blitz was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the Nazi German Luftwaffe...
during the Second World War. Had it been built, it would have been not only Manchester's tallest building, but the tallest in Europe.