I'm confident that those people who campaigned to prevent the construction of this building didn't consider it a "lot of fuss over nothing" but it was a lot of fuss over the construction of a very small structure.  The issue was over the introduction of an impediment that would prevent the public from using the walkway created by Vincent Harris when he designed the Central Library and the Town Hall Extension to elegantly curve around each other.  The objectors to the plan argued that this glass structure detracted from the existing buildings and interrupted access to what in their opinion was a much loved public space.  The city council argued that this addition was an important part of the integration of the two buildings and, that far from being much loved, Library Walk was a potential crime scene.

The SimpsonHaugh refurbishment of the library and town hall extension involved the creation of public interaction between the two buildings.  On ground level, it involved this glass pod that continues to provide passage along Library Walk, but also facilitates a weatherproof crossing point between the two buildings.



An article on the Bdonline website reflected on the building's nomination for the Carbuncle Cup claimed that the scheme's opponents described it as, “... a terrible act of cultural vandalism” ... (having) ... “the elegance of a piece of chewing gum stuck between the teeth”.  As a concession to the objectors the doors on either end of the glass building remain unlocked between 6:00 and 22:00 hours daily.



The building features an unusual three-dimensional reflective ceiling about which Jonathon Scholfield said on the Manchester Confidential website in June of 2015, "... On reflection the ceiling is impressive, although what the inspiration might have been is hard to guess."