Wythenshawe Bus Garage

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Wythenshawe Bus Garage is a Grade II* listed building[1] in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, England.[2]

Designed by Manchester City Architects Department under G. Noel Hill, and completed in 1942,[3] the garage was a pioneering example of its type of construction. It was the second-largest reinforced concrete shell roof structure to be constructed in England. The building’s structure was particularly innovative for its time. Its concrete arches have a span of 165 ft (50.3m) from side to side, are 42 ft (12.8m) high and spaced 42 ft (12.8m) apart. The tensile concrete shell roof between these concrete arches is just 2.5 inches (63.5mm) thick and is daringly punctured by large rooflights. Wythenshawe Garage proved to be the model for much larger buildings using the concrete shell roof structure technique, which was an economic method of achieving large uninterrupted roof spans.

Originally designed to garage 100 double-decker buses, the building on its completion was immediately commandeered by the Ministry of Aircraft Production for the building of Avro Lancasters in support of Britain’s Second World War efforts.

The building is now in private ownership and is used for warehousing.

References

Notes

Bibliography

  • Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2004), Lancashire: Manchester and the South East, The Buildings of England, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10583-5 

Further reading

Coordinates: 53°24′04″N 2°15′22″W / 53.40100°N 2.25624°W / 53.40100; -2.25624

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