> Bank Chambers 📍

Bank Chambers was used to store gold bullion by the Bank of England between 1971 and into the 1990s. It now forms a data centre complex 25ft below ground in the former vault.

The building is bomb-proof with a 16-inch exterior wall of concrete and wide cavity existed for security patrols. Every Tuesday the surrounding roads would be temporary closed to allow the transportation of money.

Next door is Bank Chambers, a kind of Sticklebricks looking building that has walls so thick it's one of the city's safest buildings. The most appealing feature of the building isn't actually visible but behind that thick outer wall is a gap just wide enough to fit an Alsatian dog before the next interior wall begins. This is a legacy of when the building was home to the Bank of England, and patrol dogs would secretly pace the perimeter walls.

There are more pictures on Manchester History and a Manchester Evening News article describing the Daisy Group’s £1m data centre conversion.

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