1 The Avenue

1 The Avenue is a building in Spinningfields, Manchester, England. It is situated on Deansgate adjacent to the Grade I listed John Rylands Library.

1 The Avenue
Former names	2 Spinningfields Square
General information
Type	Office, retail
Architectural style	Post modern
Location	Spinningfields, Manchester city centre
Country	United Kingdom
Construction started	2007
Opened	2009
Landlord	Allied London
Technical details
Structural system	Steel
Floor area	5,100 m2 (55,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Sheppard Robson
Structural engineer	Capita Symonds
References
[1]

Architecture

The building consists of two mirror-image parallelograms, stacked one on top of the other, resulting in a three-storey 23 m (75 ft) cantilever on the east end of the building. The cantilever is supported by an inclined steel 'diagrid' structure.^[2]

A diagrid is similar in shape to a triangle^[3] and other buildings have used a diagrid structure, such as 30 St Mary Axe in London.^[4]

Reaction to the glass clad building has been mixed due its proximity to the Grade I listed Rylands Library which, along with Manchester Town Hall, is considered the finest piece of architecture in the city and one of the finest interpretations of Gothic Revival in the world.^[5][6]

Gallery

• 
  1 The Avenue under construction
• 
  Cantilever under construction