My Favourite Building: Urbis, home of The National Football Museum

Nicholas Thompson, founder of Cheshire-based relocation specialist Fairmont Spencer explains why the Urbis National Football Museum is top of the table for outstanding design.

What’s your favourite building?
The Urbis National Football Museum, Manchester

When was it built?
The building was designed by Ian Simpson, a leading architectual figure who played a central role in the redevelopment of the city after the 1996 IRA bomb strike. Housed in Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens, the building marks a new era for the area and was opened in June 2002.

What was its original function?
It originally set out to showcase inner-city life and featured a number of exhibitions focusing on art, music, fashion, as well as hosting a series of gigs and events. Often faced with criticism about its exact remit, the museum has gone through many different transformations; with the 2004 rebrand proclaiming Urbis to be an exhibition centre for British popular culture, as well as dropping the supposedly off-putting museum title!

Nowadays the building has taken on another guise, having closed in February 2010 and re-opened its doors as the newly converted National Football Museum. Described as the world’s biggest and best football museum, the change in direction has resulted in a hike in visitors over recent years.

What is the style of the architecture?
Boasting an impressive 2,500 panes of glass, the National Football Museum is famous for its simplistic, contemporary design. Arranged in horizontal stripes, the building comes into its own during the summer months, with a statement sloping design that reflects the Manchester sunshine across the six storeys and offers an impressive view of the city to visitors.

What do you like about it? How is it used?
I think this building is a great example of modern, tasteful architecture. It is a real talking point within the city, with a standout design that compliments the traditional buildings you find in the city centre, rather than fighting against them.

Living in a city that is home to two of the greatest clubs in the world, Manchester United and Manchester City, I think the football museum is a great way of bringing people together and showing what we have to offer up North!