Looking Back: 100 & 101 Embankment
100 and 101 Embankment are located in a unique urban context, sitting at the historic centre of Salford and overlooking Manchester Cathedral and Deansgate. It is an important piece in the regeneration jigsaw at the junction of Salford and Manchester extending Manchester’s business and retail district across the River Irwell into the Greengate area of Salford
LS Lowry captured the hustle and bustle of the approach to Exchange Station, which sat on the site, in his 1960’s painting “Station Approach”, and that energy and dynamic has now been recaptured in the redevelopment of the area.
Architecture has a way of resetting time, and it is only now that we can fully appreciate how 100 and 101 Embankment act as sentinels which have helped to successfully stitch two cities back together.
Our two buildings rest upon the Grade-II listed viaduct and in stark contrast to the solidity of this sandstone base, are lighter, framed in steel and wrapped entirely in glass.
“They command a strong presence as you cross the River Irwell from Manchester into Salford, especially at night – like two very smartly dressed bouncers outside an exclusive nightclub, maintaining a polite but firm watch on proceedings.” *
*GMC21 Twenty First Architecture in Manchester and Salford, Bryony Aitchinson, Richard Brook, Jack Hale and Eddy Rhead p.93