News
Plans approved for Man Met’s ‘modern and dynamic’ new library building
Work on the state-of-the-art facility will begin this autumn.
Emily Sergeant -
16th February 2024 
Planning permission has been granted for Manchester Metropolitan University’s new state-of-the-art library building.
And it looks pretty impressive, to say the least.
After the first plans and artist impression images for the prospective facility were first unveiled back in November of last year, ahead of the University’s 200th birthday, it’s been announced that Manchester City Council has officially given the green light for the ambitious project yesterday (15 February).
This means that MMU’s current library building at All Saints on Oxford Road will be replaced with a “modern and dynamic learning environment”.
Architects Hawkins\Brown and Schmidt Hammer Lassen were commissioned to design the striking new building.
With demolition works expected to begin on site this autumn, the University says the eye-catching new building will feature digitally-enabled teaching and research facilities that will enhance students’ data science and analytical skills, as well as a range of flexible break-out spaces to “support collaboration” and “nurture ideas”.
The new building will also house the University’s ‘Special Collection Museum’, and the Manchester Poetry Library too – which is the North West’s first public poetry library – plus, there’ll also be a new gallery and event spaces that public audiences will be invited to engage with.
Andrew Fallon, who is the Director of Estates, Facilities, and Capital Development at MMU, says the new library will be a “striking addition” to the Manchester skyline.
He continued: “The new library will serve as an iconic All Saints architectural gateway to our University, and once built, it will provide a vibrant learning, research, and collaboration hub, empowering our University community and fostering creativity and engagement for future generations.”
News that MMU’s new library has been granted planning permission comes just days after it was announced that the next chapter in the storied history of Manchester’s iconic John Rylands Library is also about to be written, as the green light was too given for an ambitious £7.6 million restoration project this week.
The Grade I-listed University of Manchester-owned building will be transformed “enhance” its contribution to research, student experience, and public engagement in the city.
Timelines for this project are expected to be announced in due course.
Read more:
- Green light given for £7.6m transformation of Manchester’s iconic John Rylands Library
- People are just finding out Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh studied at Man Met
- Manchester’s iconic Science and Industry Museum to undergo ‘critical’ repair work
Construction on MMU’s new library is due to complete in spring 2028, with the facility set to be ready for the start of the 2028/29 academic year.
Featured Image – Hawkins Brown (via MMU)
