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Asia House, Manchester

Art Nouveau architecture in ManchesterArt Nouveau commercial buildingsCommercial buildings completed in 1909Grade II* listed buildings in ManchesterWarehouses in England
Asia House 3
Asia House 3

Asia House at No. 82 Princess Street, Manchester, England, is an early 20th century packing and shipping warehouse built between 1906 and 1909 in an Edwardian Baroque style. It is a Grade II* listed building as at 3 October 1974. Nikolaus Pevsner's The Buildings of England describes the warehouse, and its companion, No. 86, Manchester House, as "quite splendid ... good examples of the warehouse type designed for multiple occupation by shipping merchants". It attributes its design to I.R.E. Birkett, architect of the Grade II listed companion building, Manchester House, which is similar in design. English Heritage attributes it to Harry S. Fairhurst. Asia House has an "exceptionally rich" entrance hall and stairwell, "lined with veined marble and green and cream faience, with designs of trees and Art Nouveau stained glass".The warehouse was built for the Refuge Assurance Company and in 1910 was occupied by the Oxford Packing Company and 36 shipping merchants. Built on a trapezoidal plan, it has two linked blocks which are six storeys high plus an attic above a double basement. Its façade is pink-brown sandstone, brick and marble while the side elevations, where the service and workers entrances were located, are in glazed white brick and the rear common brick. The warehouse loading bays are between the blocks and were linked to the packing rooms in the basement by shafts.Many warehouses were built to a common design, often with steps to a raised ground floor with showroom and offices and the first floor contained more offices and waiting rooms for clients and sample and pattern rooms all decorated to impress customers. The working areas above were plain with large windows to allow in natural light. Orders were packed there and sent to the basement on hoists powered by Manchester's hydraulic power system and packed into bales using hydraulic presses before dispatch. The warehouse was lighted by gas.Asia House was converted for residential use in 2003 and the basement is a car park. Noel Gallagher, singer songwriter with Oasis, is a former occupant.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Asia House, Manchester (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Asia House, Manchester
Princess Street, Manchester City Centre

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N 53.475 ° E -2.2381 °
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Princess Street 82
M1 6BE Manchester, City Centre
England, United Kingdom
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Lancaster House, Manchester
Lancaster House, Manchester

Lancaster House in Whitworth Street, Manchester, England, is a former packing and shipping warehouse built between 1905 and 1910 for Lloyd's Packing Warehouses Limited, which had, by merger, become the dominant commercial packing company in early 20th century Manchester. It is in the favoured Edwardian Baroque style and constructed with a steel frame clad with granite at the base and Accrington red brick and orange terracotta. The back of the building is plain red brick. It is a Grade II* listed building as of 3 October 1974.The building was designed by Harry S. Fairhurst, who had become "the leading expert in the design of these advanced warehouses". Fairhurst was also responsible for Bridgewater House opposite, the neighbouring India House and, perhaps, Asia House, although that building has also been attributed to I.R.E. Birkett. Fairhurst's huge buildings are "steel-framed and built to high-quality fireproof specifications".Lancaster House shares a common plinth and eaves with its neighbour, India House and is connected by an ornate two storeys high circular Art Nouveau wrought iron gate with a pendant lamp.The building has since been converted into residential flats and separated into two buildings that are seven storeys tall. The first is located on 71 Whitworth Street, Manchester and the second is located on the adjoining street of 80 Princess Street, Manchester. The corner entrance below currently provides access to a public house named O'Sheas Irish Bar.Lancaster House is part of a conservation area in Manchester City Centre that reflects the historical importance of the textile industry in the city. The conservation area was designated by Manchester City Council in September 1974, and was bounded by Oxford Street, Portland Street, Abingdon Street, Bloom Street, Chorlton Street, Cobourg Street and the Piccadilly to Oxford Road railway viaduct. It was extended in June 1985 to include an area bounded by Whitworth Street, London Road and the above viaduct.The nearest train stations to Lancaster House are Oxford Road Station (0.2 miles) and Manchester Piccadilly Train Station (0.4 miles).

Bridgewater House, Manchester
Bridgewater House, Manchester

Bridgewater House, Manchester is a packing and shipping warehouse at 58–60 Whitworth Street, Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.Bridgewater House was built as a shipping warehouse in 1912 to a design by Harry S. Fairhurst. It is built around a steel frame with a cladding of sandstone ashlar and white glazed terracotta in a large rectangular plan, with a loading bay at the rear. The building has eight storeys and a basement and 19 bays. The lower two floors are of stone, and the upper floors are of terracotta. Above the doorways are profile medallions of the Duke of Bridgewater. According to the architectural historian Clare Hartwell, Fairhurst's huge buildings are "steel-framed and built to high-quality fireproof specifications". The builders were J. Gerrard & Sons Ltd of Swinton. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that "Fairhurst's design revolutionised the business of loading and unloading goods and twenty-six lorries could be dealt with simultaneously using a drive-through system".The building was constructed for Lloyd's Packing Warehouses Limited and, like many warehouses, was built to a common design with steps to a raised ground floor with showroom and offices. The first floor contained more offices, waiting rooms for clients, and sample and pattern rooms all decorated to impress customers. The working areas above were plain with large windows to allow in natural light. Orders were packed there and sent to the basement on hoists powered by Manchester's hydraulic power system and packed into bales using hydraulic presses before dispatch. The warehouse was lighted by gas.As of 2012 the building, converted to offices, is owned by Bruntwood.