Situated in Exchange Square, the Corn Exchange, Manchester, traces its roots back to 1837, when Richard Lane designed an initial building. However, it was considered insufficient and a larger structure, built in the Baroque style, was commissioned and constructed between 1896 and 1903. Each portion of the building was designed by a different architect, with Ball & Elce and Potts, Son, & Hennings taking the reins respectively.
When trading in corn began to wane, the building found a new purpose as a large market emporium that became a gathering place for alternative subcultures. Small stallholders sold items such as clothes, jewellery, and second-hand records. Most of the shops were temporary structures built on the central trading floor, while a few operated from the rooms arranged around the perimeter.
In 1996, an IRA bomb attack on central Manchester blew in all of the Corn Exchange's windows and shattered the glass dome. The building was subsequently renovated and reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre. In 2012, it was relaunched as Corn Exchange, Manchester, with plans to convert the building into a food outlet and hotel. Demolition work began in 2014, a food outlet opened in 2015, and an apartment hotel developed by Roomzzz Aparthotels opened in 2018.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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