Manchester Metropolitan University has unveiled plans to develop anew campus library in the heart of the city.

Proposals for the landmark development would see the current library at All Saints on Oxford Road replaced with a modern and dynamic learning environment that places students and their learning at its core.

The University has submitted a planning application for the visionary library which will help Manchester to retain its status as a choice destination for students.


The project will create a library fit for the 21st century and is a central part of the University’s strategy to deliver excellent education for its students, and research that makes a difference to the community and world.

The iconic new building would feature digitally enabled teaching and research facilities to enhance students’ data science and analytical skills, flexible break-out spaces to support collaboration and nurture ideas, and a new home for the Manchester Poetry Library, the North West’s first public poetry library. It will also house a new gallery and event spaces designed for both public and University use.

Architects Hawkins\Brown and Schmidt Hammer Lassen have been commissioned to design the new ionic building and visionary space which will create a new gateway to the University.

If the planning application is approved, work will start in summer 2024 with full completion by 2028.