Beetham Tower is a landmark 47-storey mixed-use skyscraper in Manchester, England. Completed in 2006, it is named after its developers, the Beetham Organisation, and was designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners. The development occupies a sliver of land at the top of Deansgate, hence its elongated plan and was proposed in July 2003 with construction starting a year later. At a height of 554ft, it is the tallest building in the United Kingdom outside London and 10th tallest building in the United Kingdom. It has been described by the Financial Times as "the UK’s only proper skyscraper outside London". Consequently, it is the tallest building in Manchester however construction commenced in July 2016 on Tower 1 at Owen Street which will surpass the Beetham Tower as the tallest building in Manchester when completed in 2019 with a height of 659ft.
As a result of the elongated floor plan, the structure is one of the thinnest skyscrapers in the world with a height to width ratio of 10:1 on the east-west façade but is noticeably wider on the north-south façade. A blade structure on the south side of the building acts as a façade overrun accentuating its slim form and doubles as a lightning rod. The skyscraper is visible from ten English counties on a clear day. The top-floor penthouse offers views of Greater Manchester, the Cheshire Plain, the Pennines, the Peak District and Snowdonia. The tower is known for emitting a loud unintentional hum or howl in windy weather, believed to emanate from the glass 'blade' atop the building. The hum has been recorded as a B below middle C and can be heard over large parts of the locality.
Architectural response to the skyscraper is polarised and interpretations vary. The cantilever bears the load of the north façade symbolically representing the historical strength and revival of post-industrial Manchester following economic decline in the 1980s and the 1996 Manchester bombing. Some questioned its dominant appearance over the city – particularly over listed buildings with one author going as far to say the skyscraper instantly "torpedoed" any possibility of Manchester becoming a UNESCO World Heritage city - a status Manchester was previously on the United Kingdom shortlist for due its industrial past. Others feel its dramatic appearance and peculiarity is reflective of Manchester and that the Beetham Tower symbolises Manchester's reinvention as a post-industrial city. Nevertheless, it has received praise and was awarded the best tall building in the world in 2007 by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.