Manchester’s Portico Library secures major funding for ‘once-in-a-generation’ transformation

Purcell is leading a multidisciplinary team on the ‘once-in-a-generation’ project, reuniting one of the city’s great historic cultural buildings and creating new spaces for learning and discovery.

The practice has worked closely with the library, stakeholders and project partners to help shape the proposals, building broad support for the vision and contributing to the project’s success to date.

Completed in 1806 to designs by architect Thomas Harrison, the Portico is a remarkable survivor of industrial Manchester, with its collection and archive preserved in their original Greek Revival home. Established as a subscription library and newsroom before the city had a free public library, it offered members access to books, newspapers and periodicals. In the early twentieth century, the building was divided: the library remained on the first floor, while the lower floors were adapted for commercial use, including their conversion for the Bank of Athens in the 1920s. 

Purcell’s proposals will bring the ground floor and basement levels back into library use, reconnecting them with the existing first-floor library through a new lift. Step-free routes will be provided across the basement, ground and first-floor levels, supported by the careful reconfiguration of the existing Mosley Street entrance to create a more welcoming and accessible arrival. Additional facilities, including a Changing Places toilet and quiet room, are also planned to make the library as inclusive as possible. 

The project will restore the building’s historic interiors and undertake sensitive repairs to its significant fabric. It will also introduce a new lightbox creating visual connections between the ground- and first-floor spaces, encouraging movement through the building and opening up views towards the Reading Room. A new Northern Bookshop showcasing writers and publishers from across the region will sit alongside the Portico Kitchen, multi-use exhibition areas and new meeting spaces for school workshops and events. 

The proposals will also significantly improve the building’s energy performance. A new air source heat pump, alongside additional insulation, energy-efficient lighting and improvements to drainage and windows, will help reduce the Portico’s carbon footprint and future-proof the building for generations to come in line with Manchester’s net-zero goals. At its heart will be the historic collection of 25,000 books and rare manuscripts, which will be housed in dedicated archive facilities at basement level. 

Members, volunteers, schools, community organisations, artists and project partners will help shape the next stage of the reunited library. During the planned construction works from late spring 2028, its work will continue through the Porti-Go! programme. Following its reopening, the transformed library is expected to welcome around 95,000 visitors each year.