Daily Express Building

Manchester, United Kingdom

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerHistoric England listing↗

Completed in 1939 on Great Ancoats Street in Manchester, the Daily Express Building is a streamline moderne masterpiece designed by engineer Sir Owen Williams. One of three nearly identical Daily Express offices built in major British cities, the Manchester structure is widely regarded as the finest of the trio, admired for its strikingly futuristic appearance that belies its pre-World War II origins. Clad in opaque and vitrolite glass with characteristic horizontal lines and curved corners, the building pioneers curtain-wall technology and exemplifies the radical avant-garde aesthetic of 1930s design—so forward-looking that it is frequently mistaken for a much later construction. Its bold formal language has earned admiration from architects including Norman Foster, and it was accorded Grade II* listed status in 1974, just thirty-five years after completion.