The final sections have now been installed to Manchester city centre’s brand new 40m high Tower of Light, but what exactly is the feature for?
The finishing touches to the feature were added overnight to minimise local disruption.
The Tower of Light was officially revealed to the public last week, generating widespread conversation and being met with mixed reactions from Mancunians – particularly with reference to its visual appearance as a new contribution to the city’s ever-changing skyline – but this feature has a much greater significance than may be initially realised.
The finalisation of the Tower of Light is said to mark a significant milestone in the Manchester Civic Quarter Heat Network project.
The tower is made up of nine sections called ‘drums’, each one measuring 4m wide, 6m long and 4m high, and there is 1.8m crown section. Once the Civic Quarter Heat Network project is complete, the Tower of Light will act as the chimney for the low-carbon energy centre. The network will generate low-carbon heat and power for the city to help Manchester reach its ambition of becoming zero-carbon by 2038 at the latest.
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The scheme is projected to save an initial 1,600 tonnes of carbon emissions per year and the energy centre will become even more efficient as additional buildings are connected.
According to architects Tonkin Liu and Manchester City Council, the Tower of Light will initially serve seven iconic city centre buildings and has the potential to grow by connecting further buildings across the city centre in the future.
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The first buildings to be connected to the network will be Manchester Town Hall and Town Hall Extension, Central Library, Manchester Central Convention Centre, The Bridgewater Hall, Heron House and the Manchester Art Gallery.
Containing a 3.3MWe CHP engine and two 12MW gas boilers, the Tower of Light’s energy centre is projected to generate electricity and harness the recovered heat from this process for distribution via a 2km district heating network, which will supply heat for the buildings.
The scheme has been part-funded by a £2.87m grant from the government’s Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP), with Manchester City Council being one of the first local authorities to receive this funding.
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Tonkin Liu
Councillor Angeliki Stogia – Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for the Environment, Planning and Transport – said: “The Tower of Light is an impressive new landmark for Manchester and a symbol of Manchester’s aim of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2038 at the latest.
“On completion, the Civic Quarter Heat Network project will realise significant carbon savings, supporting the council’s current plan to halve its own emissions by 2025, which will be an important milestone on the road to the city meeting its ambitious goal.”
Anthony Shawcross – Senior Construction Manager for Vital Energi – said: “This project is much more intricate than a standard flue due to its complex geometry, but will hopefully become an iconic part of Manchester’s skyline.
“We’re delighted with how smoothly the installation went and we hope the people of Manchester will now enjoy it for many years.”
All work on the Civic Quarter Heat Network project is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2020.
You can find out more via the Manchester City Council website here.
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Microdot exhibit for BRITs 2026: the artwork of Oasis, Verve and more up in Manchester Piccadilly
Danny Jones
If you’ve passed through Manchester Piccadilly of late, you might have noticed two things: one, it’s really quiet, and two, there’s loads of cool Britpop merch and memorabilia on display, including original Oasis, The Verve, Inspiral Carpets art and more – all courtesy of Microdot.
Set up as part of the city’s own BRITs celebrations, along with a raft of other nationwide festivities, as the annual music award ceremony prepares to make its Manc debut at the Co-op Live this month, the showcase features special edition frames and more, all pride of place in the middle of the train station.
This collection, simply entitled ‘A Microdot Design’, is all done by the legendary Brian Cannon, the graphic designer and art director behind so much recognisable visual material within the genre.
We recently had the honour of speaking to the man himself in person ahead of Piccadilly’s temporary closure; you can see our interview with him right here:
The Wigan-born artist and visionary didn’t just make promotional materials for some of the biggest bands in the 1990s; he’s responsible for what has gone on to become some of the most familiar iconography in British music history.
With this pop-up exhibit available for a limited time only, we strongly urge you to go along and, for once, take your time rather than rushing around the station as you peruse the boards placed right near the main entrance.
Charting his work from circa 1990 up until now, it’s crazy to see just how many of Brian and Microdot’s fingerprints are all over so many different bands and artists.
From native names like Oasis, The Verve and the Inspirals, as mentioned, as well as the likes of Cast, Super Furry Animals, Suede and Ash, plus so many more, this guy has been nothing short of prolific over the past few decades.
Audio North took a little tour of the King Street South unit last year in the lead-up to Oasis Live ’25 reunion world tour, and we felt like kids in a Britpop sweetshop.
While this site has sadly since closed, shutting up shop back in July, Brian’s mini, modest, but nevertheless magic Microdot Boutique up in the Lake District is still standing.
Located in the popular North West town and tourist attraction, Kendal, it’s worth a trip there to see more of his portfolio alone.
Currently on display at Manchester Piccadilly ahead of the full 2026 BRITs Week and shindig at Co-op Live, it’s one of the best completely free things you can do in town at the moment – but the exhibition finishes on Sunday, 1 March, so make sure you don’t miss it.
Speaking of the BRIT Awards, if you’re wondering what else is on as 0161 gets ready welcome them for their two-year stint (at least), look no further…
Two brothers from Oldham are beating out the likes of Taylor Swift in the iTunes charts
Danny Jones
A pair of brothers from Oldham who simply go by Two Connors are now holding on to the top spot in one of the biggest iTunes charts, and they’re beating the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and many more.
Stuff your global music stars, we’ll back a duo from Greater Manchester all day long.
Danny and Callum Connor, a couple of blokes from Oldham in their mid-30s, are currently number one in the iTunes singles charts with their latest song, ‘Familiar Faces’, but this isn’t the first time they’ve gone big with a release online.
Carving out their own little corner not only in the old Lancashire borough but a small pocket in the UK’s wider grime, drill, rap and hip-hop scene, they’ve only gotten bigger over the last 18 months or so.
After releasing their first two tracks back in 2024, Callum and Danny have been on a very gradual rise, but they quickly gained a cult local following in and around Oldham.
Writing about life and around the area, with high personal and anecdotal lyrics that feel like niche references and in-jokes specifically for‘Roughyed’ residents – it’s not just music by them but FOR them.
In addition to recording their own unique cover of ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran, they also went fairly viral for releasing a music video featuring crowds of local children.
Putting their own chant-based chorus slant on ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, “It’s off to Work We Go”‘, written by Mitch Miller and The Sandpipers (yes, as in the main theme from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), it was a fairly radio-friendly tune that was easy for kids and more to sing along with.
With various other natives getting involved in the music video, joining them on the town centre streets and lip-syncing the lyrics, it was circulated online all over Britain and beyond.
You can watch it in full down below.
Fast forward to February 2026, and not only have they grown their following across the region, but even further afield now, as it turns out; currently sitting ahead of ‘Opalite’ from worldwide smash-hit album, The Life of a Showgirl, who needs big label backing, eh?
Bringing smiles to even more Greater Mancs by quite literally shining the spotlight on ‘Familiar Faces’ and punters from nearby pubs such as The Up Stepps Inn and former nightclub Sruples, it is a real tribute to their homeland.
Only time will tell how long they’ll cling to that iTunes top spot, but with nearly 73,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and counting, they might be one of the biggest music names to come out of OL in some time.
In other big news over in Oldham, on the sporting side of things, RLFC are staring down yet more uncertainty, with local hero Bill Quinn also wrapping up his time at the club.
Emily Sergeant -
17th August 2020 
