As with other buildings on the North Campus, the Renold Building was designed by W. A. Gibbon of the architectural practice of Cruickshank & Seward.  It opened for use on the former UMIST campus in November of 1962. 

Below is an image of the building taken in the 1960s.  In the background you can see the skeleton of a block of flats going up near Upper Brooks Street.


The building is made up of a 2 storey base and a 6 storey tower which has a glass enclosed external stairwell.  The building has a number of lecture halls varying in size from 500 to 150 seats.

The building is named after Sir Charles Renold an engineer and at one time Vice President of Manchester College of Science and Technology, which later became UMIST.  His father was the Swiss born engineer Hans Renold who founded the Manchester manufacturing company Renold Chains & Gears.