Research by a Lancaster University Professor in Architecture has led to an ‘innovative’ 1960s former Manchester University campus building being Grade II listed by Historic England.

As well as affirming the validity of the history of the Renold Building, for a consultation report, the work by Professor in Architecture Richard Brook, from Lancaster’s School of Architecture, also led to the project architect, Gordon Hodkinson, being named in the listing text, alongside the project director, William Arthur Gibbon.

The report, published this week by Historic England, cites Professor Brook’s doctoral and ensuing research to rebuff the arguments of the owner, a developer opposing the listed status, and as central to new knowledge affirming the building’s historical importance.

The UMIST campus is now surplus to university requirements, and the site is due to be redeveloped into an innovation district for technology and science companies.

The Renold Building, which is being retained, was finished in 1962 which, as a post-war building, makes it particularly difficult to get listed status.

The Renold Building was previously and unsuccessfully assessed for listing in 2006 but a sculptural wall, by Antony Hollaway, along the eastern campus boundary of UMIST was listed at Grade II in 2011, also due to Professor Brook’s work Together the two structures are now recognised for their group value, an important milestone in cementing their future preservation.

The owners secured a change of use for the building in April 2024 and have almost completed a refurbishment providing co-working and business incubator spaces, which are already in use.

Professor Brook has extensive knowledge of UMIST and the Renold Building, which established a new and influential type of university building with a striking and distinctive modern architectural expression. Its cultural significance is strengthened by a Victor Passmore mural on the ground floor.

In the report Historic England state: “Professor Brook’s research affirms the validity of the history section of the consultation report.”

They say the research provided a better understanding of the architectural context nationally and has helped to inform this reassessment.

The research is part of Professor Brook’s ongoing project, Mainstream Modern, which is supported by an Arts and Humanities Research Council award.

A registered architect and an architectural historian, Professor Brook is especially interested in the ways in which policy and legislation govern space and affect design. His research is primarily focussed on post-war history and the relationships of the built environment with the structures of the state.

He said he had heard from the families of the architect and project director.

Gordon Hodkinson’s family said: “We are so proud that our much-loved father/grandfather was so influential in the design and delivery of such an iconic building in Manchester. Thanks to the hard work of the individuals and groups referenced within the report for supporting in the achievement of the listing.”

And Kate Langford, daughter of the architect, William Arthur Gibbon, said: “This is a triumph. I recently visited the Renold Building with my brother and was given a very interesting tour of this building by Professor Brook. I feel sure that it is due to his constant determination with the support of the Twentieth Century Society that has ensured its preservation. Many of these buildings from a very interesting and remarkable period of architecture would have gone had it not been for the love and interest shown by your society (Twentieth Century Society) and the dedication of Professor Brook. I wish my father was alive to say thank you to all of you who are involved.”

The Renold Building features in Professor Brook’s book, The Renewal of Post-War Manchester (2025), shortlisted for the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain’s Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion.

A painting of the Renold Building by the renowned commercial artist Lawrence Wright features in Professor Brook’s co-curated exhibition, The Perspectivists, currently on show at Manchester’s Modernist Society Gallery in the city. With Dr Martin Dodge, University of Manchester, he has gathered a group of unseen paintings and written the first official biographies of three hitherto overlooked mid-century painters, whose families are also grateful for this late, yet timely, recognition.