Arighi Bianchi

Macclesfield, United Kingdom

Arighi Bianchi is a furniture shop in the town of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It was founded in 1854 by Italian immigrants Antonio Arighi and Antonio Bianchi who originated from the village of Casnate on the shores of Lake Como. The shop is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It has a cast iron and glass frontage, and stands close to Macclesfield Station and Tesco. The four-storey shop front was inspired by Paxton’s Crystal Palace of 1851. It was the work of a local builder George Roylance. The building has much in common with the steel frame buildings of Lower Manhattan. It was saved from demolition in 1973 after a campaign supported by the Victorian Society, the Architectural Review magazine and Sir John Betjeman.