CIS BUILDING — PLACEMAKING +
ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY
FOR MANCHESTER ICON'S NEW CHAPTER
CAPTURING THE IMPOSING PRESENCE + CHARACTER OF MANCHESTER’S CIS BUILDING THROUGH PLACEMAKING-LED ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY. A VISUAL NARRATIVE. COMMISSIONED BY LONDON CREATIVE AGENCY, STEPLADDER, HOPING TO REPOSITION THE TOWER AS A FUTURE HUB FOR THE CITY’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
THE BRIEF
Placemaking Photography for the CIS Building, Manchester.
This project centred on redefining the CIS Building’s presence within Manchester’s urban fabric. Working with a London-based creative agency working on the building’s rebrand, the aim was to produce photography that showcased CIS not just as an architectural landmark, but as a place embedded in the city’s everyday life. The images needed to support a wider placemaking strategy, positioning the tower as a future hub for creative professionals.
The goal was to shift outdated perceptions of the CIS Building and demonstrate its potential as a vibrant asset within Manchester’s creative and cultural landscape. They needed imagery that:
- Highlighted the tower’s visibility across the city
- Captured the lifestyle and street activity of exciting new district NOMA
- Showcased local independent businesses and neighbourhood character
- Supported the building’s repositioning as a creative destination
- Balanced architectural presence with human-scale storytelling
The brief required photography that would resonate with audiences in the property, architecture and placemaking sectors, that blends the built environment with the energy of the people who interact with it daily.
THE PROCESS
To understand how CIS lives with the city, I spent time walking the surrounding streets of Ancoats, New Islington, the Northern Quarter and the roads feeding into them. The aim was to observe where the tower naturally reveals itself, how people move around it, and where the most authentic lifestyle moments occur.
Key decisions in the process included:
- Location scouting: Identifying vantage points where the tower frames daily activity rather than dominates it.
- Timing shoots around footfall: Capturing commuters, cyclists, café-goers and students at natural moments of flow.
- Light-led planning: Watching how shadows stretched across the building’s façade and surrounding streets, and using these changes to create depth.
- Context-first framing: Pairing the architecture with the textures of Manchester – brick, concrete, metal, glass and greenery.
- Documentary-style observation: Allowing real life to shape the final set rather than staging scenes.
This placemaking approach helped shape a collection that reflects not only the building but the culture, movement and character of the neighbourhood it sits within.
RESPONSE
What became clear throughout the shoot was how deeply embedded CIS already is in Manchester’s identity. It appears unexpectedly in reflections, through alleyways, above independent shops and over busy junctions. The final images emphasise:
- The tower as a visual anchor across the skyline
- Genuine street-life moments happening around it
- The creative, independent culture woven through the neighbourhood
- The textures and materials that define the area
- Light interacting with the structure at different points in the day
Objectives for the photography include:
- Support placemaking narratives in pitch decks and stakeholder communications
- Illustrate the vibrancy and potential of the location
- Strengthen the building's appeal to creative tenants
- Build visual assets for branding, website and campaign use
The resulting imagery positions the CIS Building as part of Manchester’s creative energy – a building ready for reinvention, supported by a community and a city already alive around it.
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