Arkwright House, Manchester

Arkwright House is a Grade-II listed building in Manchester. Designed by Harry S. Fairhurst, the predecessor of Fairhurst Design Group, it was completed by 1937 for the English Sewing Cotton Company. Arkwright House is built in a neo-classical style with some art deco motifs which was widely prominent during the 1930’s.

This building was showing signs of structural decay, namely the corrosion of its structural steel frame. Cracks began appearing across the external masonry, prompting action to be taken before the damage caused serious significant deterioration of the fabric.

RoC Consulting designed a number of remedial measures including the painstaking restoration of the impressive façade. We recommended the use of Cathodic Protection (CP) and at the time such measures had not been used for the protection of a building of this design.  A bold engineering solution, which has since ensured the building’s long term survival.

The CP system was extended to entire perimeter structural frame to provide guaranteed life to the frame and cladding.  Arkwright House has changed ownership on several occasions since project completion and there have been no issues at acquistion.