high rise

Manchester’s new skyscraper estate

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My Manchester apartment sits on the second floor of a low rise building. But very close by a new skyscraper neighbourhood is making rapid progress.

Here are some photographs of the newest towers which I finally got close to recently. What do you think of living in the sky? READ MORE BELOW

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The New Jackson neighbourhood links together the four more recent skyscrapers – the slim Blade, rotund Three60, broad Elizabeth Tower and squat Victoria Residence – with the existing Deansgate Square towers.

This crop of four high rises have dominated the local skyline for a few years now and regularly feature in my photographs.

With thousands of new homes and people moving to this part of Manchester city centre, amenities including a primary school and medical centre are being placed on site.

But is this enough along with these sparkling, sky-touching new buildings? 

Life in the city centre can favour younger people, who in my own experience may be less likely to connect with neighbours and their local community. Apartment living makes it easier to close the door behind you and forget those around you.

One thing is clear – the local skyline has changed for good. Is it progress for the better?…

The skyscrapers of New Jackson, Manchester, as seen from a roof garden.

New Jackson (right) as seen from a Manchester roof garden

Soaring intimidation

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Dark intimidation

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This is a daunting sight on the west London skyline. It’s called Trellick Tower, a Brutalist tower block. If you’re standing close to this concrete beast, it soars above you and leaves you feeling dwarfed and a little intimidated.

But the curtained windows and bristling satellite dishes show that it’s home to a lot of people. Even an edifice like this has a soul.

Trellick was a slight detour on the canalside walk I took with fellow photographer Richard Cooper-Knight. I also went to visit its east London sibling – Balfron Tower – some months ago and visited one of the apartments inside with its impressive views.

Impressive is the word for architecture like this…

North London vista (2)

Office envy

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The City of London is bristling with sophisticated, expensive business premises, many of them high-rise – soaring testaments to the wealth brimming in the capital.

On my Open House London explorations, I visited 30 Crown Place, just one of those buildings, constructed in 2009. It’s a cool edifice of blue glass and steel, while the interior space is occupied by a commercial law firm.

An organised tour whisked me in a capsule lift to a sophisticated suite of boardrooms, coolly resplendent with sleek lines, sumptuous materials and clean details.

There is also a terrace which overlooks London’s business centre, currently a maze of building work as the regeneration continues.

This pinnacle of corporate finery may have been a smokescreen – I didn’t see the regular offices, most probably a tangle of computers, chairs and desks covered in clutter, just like everywhere else.

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High altitude candids

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My chance to ascend London’s tallest building finally came courtesy of a birthday present from Dermot, after months of admiring this structure from afar. Zooming to the 68th floor within seconds makes your ears pop, but the final short climb to the 72nd floor viewing platform proved to be the moment of truth.

This area, partially open to the elements, was balmy on another fine summer’s day. They say it’s all about the astonishing views across the city on all sides, but my camera was drawn in other directions.

It’s a place where people congregate and enjoy their lofty position, and are so absorbed that The Shard becomes a haven for candid photography. Here is a selection, including Dermot, who made this possible.

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I’ll bring you more from my birthday ascent in the coming days.

Ode to the tower block

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In London, the residential tower block is much maligned and doesn’t get a lot of love.

These buildings are seen as shabby, dirty and blots on the skyline.

And high rises are usually associated with rundown housing estates.

They are dangerous, menacing and places where the urban poor live out their meagre existences.

In my opinion these buildings have a bad press. They’re a source of fascination and great material for interesting architectural photographs.

The west London tower block to the left, swathed in shabby scaffolding, brings a new synthesis to a sunrise shot.

And the picture below shows a handsome trio of tower blocks in Belgrade, Serbia. They’re thriving, healthy and caught by the sun.

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This photo is just a taste of tower block heaven – those expansive, uniform high rise housing estates built across eastern Europe during the communist era. Does anyone have any shots of them? If not, next assignment is to visit some of those cities and create a photographic study, with great love and admiration.