Most drivers on the M60 barely need a sat nav at Junction 1. The moment the glass slopes rise above the treeline, they know exactly where they are. Stockport Pyramid has been signalling the edge of the borough for more than 30 years, whether you see it as a bold statement or a planning misstep.
Few buildings in Greater Manchester spark as much debate as Stockport Pyramid. It has been a corporate headquarters, an empty shell and now a key regeneration project. Through it all, it has remained one of the most recognisable shapes on the regional skyline.
What is the Stockport Pyramid?
Stockport Pyramid is a five storey glass and steel office building at Kings Reach, beside Junction 1 of the M60 and on the edge of Stockport town centre in Greater Manchester.
Completed in 1992, the building was designed as a flagship headquarters style office building. Its stepped, blue glass form gives it the appearance of a pyramid, although architecturally it is closer to a tiered ziggurat.
For anyone driving around the motorway network, Stockport Pyramid is the sharply angled structure that tells you that you are skirting the River Mersey and entering Stockport.
When was Stockport Pyramid built and why?
Construction of Stockport Pyramid began in the late 1980s and finished in 1992, at a time when councils across Greater Manchester were competing to attract white collar employers beyond Manchester city centre.
The wider Kings Reach scheme was pitched as an ambitious commercial quarter. Early plans suggested multiple pyramid style blocks lining the Mersey. In the end, only one Stockport Pyramid was delivered.
The original developer collapsed during the process, leaving the brand new office building empty beside the M60 motorway. That early setback fed a local narrative that the site was somehow unlucky.
The Co operative Bank, which had financed the scheme, later took control and turned Stockport Pyramid into a regional base. For years, hundreds of staff worked inside, softening the early doubts and embedding the building into daily life in the borough.
Architectural significance and visibility from the M60
Architecturally, Stockport Pyramid stands apart from almost everything around it. Greater Manchester is defined by red brick mills, Victorian civic buildings and post war retail blocks. A reflective glass pyramid rising beside a motorway slip road was always going to divide opinion.
The design steps back at each level, creating terraces that taper towards the top. Inside, it was laid out as a modern office building with large open plan floors. Outside, surface parking reinforced that this was built for the car commuter era, plugged directly into the M60 motorway rather than the traditional high street.
Stockport Pyramid is visible from the M60, the A6 and from trains heading between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport station. That constant exposure has made it one of the most recognisable structures in Greater Manchester. For many returning from the airport or from a late shift in the city, seeing Stockport Pyramid through the window signals that home is minutes away.
Long vacancy and the “cursed” reputation
The stability ended when the Co operative Bank relocated staff and eventually vacated the building. By 2018, Stockport Pyramid stood empty again.
Lights were off. The car park sat quiet. For drivers passing daily on the M60 motorway, the empty glass shell became a symbol of stalled ambition.
For several years, agents marketed the vacant office building with varying proposals for refurbishment. Sales were agreed, plans were floated and headlines appeared, but visible change was slow. Each delay reinforced the long running local joke that Kings Reach was cursed.
On community forums and social media, residents would swap updates and scepticism in equal measure. The longer Stockport Pyramid remained unused, the more it felt like unfinished business for the town.
Public reaction: eyesore or icon?
Opinion in Stockport remains split.
Some residents argue that Stockport Pyramid looks dated and awkward, an oversized relic of 1990s corporate optimism dropped beside the river and motorway. For them, it represents a period when attention drifted away from the everyday needs of Stockport town centre.
Others see a genuine Stockport landmark. They point out that without Stockport Pyramid, the site might have been filled with a generic glass box offering little character. Younger residents in particular have grown up with it as a fixed point on the skyline.
The debate surfaces regularly online. One post praising the way the glass catches the evening light from the M60 will quickly be followed by another suggesting demolition. Few buildings in Greater Manchester provoke that level of everyday conversation.
Regeneration, reuse and latest plans
In recent years, Stockport has emerged as one of the most closely watched regeneration stories in Greater Manchester. Investment in the new Transport Interchange, residential developments and the revival of the Underbanks has reshaped confidence in the borough.
Within that broader shift, the future of Stockport Pyramid has taken on added weight.
Approved plans will see Stockport Pyramid converted from an office building into a large scale restaurant and events venue. The proposal, led by experienced operators with roots in Greater Manchester’s South Asian hospitality scene, aims to transform all five levels into dining areas and banqueting halls for weddings, celebrations and corporate events.
The distinctive exterior of Stockport Pyramid will remain. Internally, former office floors are being stripped out and refitted with kitchens, event spaces and accessible facilities.
If successful, the project will create jobs, attract visitors from across Greater Manchester and, for the first time, invite the public into a building many have only ever seen from the motorway.
Why it matters to locals
For residents, the story of Stockport Pyramid is about more than architecture.
Because it sits so visibly beside the M60 motorway and so close to Stockport town centre, its condition reflects on the borough as a whole. An empty Stockport Pyramid felt like a missed opportunity. A busy, active Stockport Pyramid would signal momentum.
In a town working hard to reshape its reputation within Greater Manchester, visible wins matter.
Practical location details
Stockport Pyramid stands at Kings Reach, beside Junction 1 of the M60, just south of Manchester city centre and close to the River Mersey.
Drivers travelling clockwise see it on the left as they approach the turn off for Stockport town centre. It is also visible from key rail routes into Stockport station and is within short driving distance of the A6 and the new Transport Interchange.
Its prominence is part of its power. Few office buildings in Greater Manchester occupy such a strategic and highly visible plot.
What happens next
The immediate focus is completing the internal conversion of Stockport Pyramid into a fully operational restaurant and events complex. That includes installing commercial kitchens, reworking circulation space and ensuring modern safety and accessibility standards are met.
A phased opening is expected once fit out is complete, with the main restaurant areas launching before larger scale events ramp up.
The long term reputation of Stockport Pyramid will depend on whether the new concept draws consistent footfall and becomes part of everyday life in the borough rather than a novelty.
A landmark that refuses to fade
Whatever side of the argument you fall on, Stockport Pyramid has become inseparable from the identity of this part of Greater Manchester.
It has outlasted developers, weathered vacancy and survived years of debate. As cranes reshape Stockport town centre and regeneration gathers pace, the glass pyramid beside the M60 is no longer just something to glance at through a car window.
Stockport Pyramid is being written into the town’s next chapter. Icon, eyesore or a bit of both, it remains one of the clearest markers that you have arrived in Stockport.
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