The first Corn Exchange built on this site was designed by
Richard Lane and completed in 1837. By the late 19th century, it was considered too small, and civic officials decided to commission a larger building. The current building was designed in the
Baroque style, and built in two sections. Each section was designed by a different architect, the first by Ball & Elce and built between 1896 and 1899, and the second by Potts, Son, & Hennings and built between 1899 and 1903. The volume of trading in corn declined significantly in the wake of the
Great Depression of British Agriculture and the building was largely disused in the wake of the
Second World War. In the 1960s to early 1980s, while the interior fell into disuse, the rear side of the Corn Exchange on Fennel Street became home to various nightclubs, including
Pips, an important part of
Manchester's music scene, where in 1978
Joy Division played their first gig under this name. A number of shops with street access on the building's basement level also continued to operate throughout this period. The Corn Exchange was briefly used by the
Royal Exchange Theatre Company from 1976 and it served as a filming location for
Granada Television's
Brideshead Revisited in 1981. Over time, the interior developed into a large market emporium, and was a gathering place for alternative subcultures. Small stallholders sold items such as clothes, jewellery, historical paraphernalia and second-hand records. The Corn Exchange was subsequently renovated and reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre, named in reference to the building's shape. In 2005, the then-owners, the
Blackstone Group and its UK-based partner, Milligan Retail Resorts International, sold the complex to the Norwich Property Trust, for £67 million. In 2012, The Triangle was relaunched as Corn Exchange, Manchester and plans were revealed to convert the building into a food outlet and hotel. A demolition company commenced work to strip out modern interior materials and fixtures in 2014, and a food outlet opened in the complex in 2015. An apartment hotel, developed by
Roomzzz Aparthotels, opened in 2018. It accommodates a reception area on the ground floor and 114 rooms on the upper floors. ==See also==