Britannia Hotel, Portland Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester
This building was originally built as a warehouse. It is a spectacular building, built for S and J Watts, the largest wholesale drapery business in Manchester. It is the most ambitious and grandiose of all the city's Victorian warehouses. It was built between 1851-6 and designed by Travis and Mangnallin a palazzo style. It was built to impress buyers from all over the world, and, once inside, the visitor was led by a splendid iron staircase to floors filled with fabrics, furnishings, clothing and all manner of drapery. It is now (2010) a hotel.
