Urbis

Urbis was an exhibition and museum in Manchester, England, designed by Ian Simpson. The building opened in June 2002 as part of the redevelopment of Exchange Square known as the Millennium Quarter. Urbis was commissioned as a 'Museum of the City' but this failed and a switch was made to changing exhibits on popular-culture alongside talks, gigs and special events. Urbis still failed to attract sufficient footfall to justify its heavy subsidy and closed in 2010. In 2012, the building re-opened after a complete re-fit as the permanent National Football Museum, which is also in receipt of subsidy from the City.

Architecture and design

Urbis is a building in Cathedral Gardens, designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners with consulting engineers Martin Stockley Associates.The building has six storeys and a distinctive sloping form. Visitors were intended to travel to the top floor, accessed by an elevator, to admire the cityscape, then progress down a series of cascading mezzanine floors past exhibits about cities. The fully glazed facades consist of approximately 2,200 glass panes arranged in horizontal strips. The building has an adiabatic cooling system for use in summer and heat recovery system for use in winter increasing its energy efficiency.