|
The Palace Hotel - Oxford Road & Whitworth Street
The Palace Hotel occupies the Refuge Insurance Building on Oxford Road and Whitworth Street.
It is infact two
building, Building 1 by Alfred Waterhouse (the
architect of the Town
Hall) and Building 2 by his son Paul. Surmounted by
the 217 foot tall
clock tower, this has always been a Manchester
landmark. Alfred
Waterhouse completed Building 1 in 1895 and Paul
completed Building 2
in 1912. It was further extended along Whitworth
Street by Stanley
Birkett in 1932.
Here it is in the early years.
Notice
the spire atop the tower at the corner of Oxford Road
and Whitworth
Street. This no longer exists.
It was finally converted to a hotel in 1996 by Richard Newman.
The buildings are
constructed of
red brick and
terracotta and the inside featured Burmantofts faience
and glazed
brick. The ground floor was one enormous open business
hall. Under the
clock tower is a large ornamental portico of polished
gray granite. An
entry in the Flickr web site says this of the building
"The
interior of
The Refuge is, if anything, even more breathtaking
than the façade,
glittering with stained-glass, faience and iron and
would have left on
unforgettable impression in the ghostly green glow
of Welsbach lamps.
There is a marvelous marble and bronze staircase fit
for The Vatican."
The 1996 £7 million refurbishment by Richard Newman was done on behalf of Meridien Palace Hotels Limited, who run the building as the four-star Palace Hotel. It has 257 en-suite guest rooms, numerous bars and conference rooms, as well as an 810-seat open plan restaurant.
|
