Royal Exchange is a Grade II listed building in the Manchester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 3 October 1974. Commercial exchange. 56 related planning applications.
Royal Exchange
- WRENN ID
- sleeping-moat-barley
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Manchester
- Constituency
- Manchester Central MP: Lucy Powell (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 3 October 1974
- Type
- Commercial exchange
- Address
- Royal Exchange, 1-13, Exchange Street, M2 7EA
- OS grid reference
- SJ 838 984
- Coordinates
- 53.48246, -2.24493
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Royal Exchange is a commercial building located on Exchange Street in Manchester. It was rebuilt and enlarged for the fourth time on this site between 1914 and 1921 by the architectural firm Bradshaw, Gass and Hope. The building is constructed from Darley stone and features a slate roof with three glazed domes.
The structure has a very large, approximately rectangular plan situated on an island site, with an east-west arcade at the ground floor and a central atrium at the first floor. It is designed in a classical style and consists of four storeys along with two attic storeys. The ground floor is treated as rustic, featuring channelled rusticated piers. The first, second, and third floors are adorned with a giant Corinthian order, a massive entablature, and a modillioned cornice. The first attic storey has a cornice and a balustraded parapet, while the second attic storey is set within a mansard roof. A Baroque turret is located at the north-west corner, and domes are positioned over the other corners. The west side features a giant round-headed entrance arch with wide steps leading up to it. The first and second floor windows are set in giant round-headed arches, while the third floor and first attic storey have mullioned windows.
Inside, there is a very impressive trading hall, which now contains a modular theatre.
Local climate
Royal Exchange sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,060 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2018
- Related listed building consents — 56 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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