Castlefield Information Centre

The Castlefield Information Centre, formerly known as Nos. 322 to 330 Deansgate Free Library, is located in Manchester. Built in 1882 by George Meek, this building now serves as a visitor and urban studies centre. It features a library above shops and is constructed of red brick with sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The building has a rectangular plan with curved corners at the front and is designed in the Romanesque style.

It stands two storeys tall, with the upper storey significantly higher, and consists of seven bays, including the corners. The ground floor has square stone piers and cast-iron columns at the corners, along with a frieze and cornice above. The first floor is adorned with a sill-band and panelled pilasters, a plain brick frieze, and a moulded cornice that has a blocking course interrupted in the three central bays by a stone frieze. The building features a bracketed cornice and an enriched parapet with a central carved pediment.

The fourth bay on the ground floor provides an open entrance to a lateral through-passage, which is fitted with iron gates and topped with a segmental pediment that includes carved figures. To the right of this entrance is a round-headed doorway that is moulded in two orders and features shafts. The other bays have glazed screens. On the first floor, each bay showcases large stepped triple windows that are treated as an arcade of round-headed arches, complete with stone shafts that have carved capitals, geometrical glazing bars, and hoodmoulds. The main entrance is highlighted by an arch-band above the window. The building has quadrantal corners with five-bay arcades wrapping around, and two-bay returned ends that match the overall style. The rear of the building is linked to the former Higher Campfield Market Hall on Liverpool Road.