1 The Avenue


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

Architecture

The building consists of two mirror-image parallelograms, stacked one on top of the other, resulting in a three-storey cantilever on the east end of the building. The cantilever is supported by an inclined steel ‘diagrid’ structure.
A diagrid is similar in shape to a triangle and other building have used a diagrid structure, such as 30 St Mary Axe in London.
Reaction to the glass clad building has been mixed due its proximity to the Grade I listed Rylands Library which, along with the Town Hall is considered the finest piece of architecture in Manchester and one of the finest interpretations of Gothic revival in the world.