1904 – Prince’s Buildings, 18-28 Oxford Street, Manchester

The Prince’s Building in Oxford Street is one of the city’s few Art Nouveau buildings, though only the facade survives, the remainder of the building having been torn out and rebuilt as luxury apartments in the mid-1990s. Buff brick & terra-cotta. It was in 1903 at the height of the continental Art Nouveau period, though the style failed to catch-on in Britain. The front is decorated by large terra cotta panelled window surrounds and its tall chimneys are very distinctive.

“These buildings, covering 2,213 supl. yards of land, and consisting of shops, offices, and warerooms, have recently been erected in Oxford Street, Manchester, for Messrs Booth and Others, Ltd. The elevation to Oxford-street has been somewhat affected by existing ancient lights, calling for special treatment in the design, which has been carried out principally in “Burmantofts vitreous glazed” terracotta, unglazed bricks, and polished Aberdeen granite. The contractors were Messrs. William Brown and Son, of Salford, and the architect was Mr. I. R. E. Birkett, A. R.I.B.A., of Manchester.”
Building News 24 June 1904

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