Basic Site Details

Name: Photographic Studio for James Lafayette (James Stack Lauder)
City or county: Manchester
Country: England
Parish:  
Status:  
Grid ref:
Notes: James Stack Lauder, who used the professional name of James Lafayette, established his first studio in Dublin in 1880 and rapidly gained a reputation as a portrait photographer of some distinction, numbering among his sitters Queen Victoria and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Within a few years, studios were established at 15-21 Gordon Street, Glasgow (1890), 96 Deansgate, Manchester (1892), and with a surge of business in Jubilee year (1897) a branch was opened on London's Bond Street. Subsequently another studio was established in Belfast (1900).

In Glasgow atmospheric pollution had caused particular difficulties. Electric lighting had been installed to supplement the natural light while an early form of electrically operated air filtration system was also introduced to remove the fog. The Manchester studio was an alteration and adaptation of part of an existing mixed-use office building at the corner of Deansgate and St Mary’s Street.

The illustration in Manchester Faces and Places is not altogether clear but may have involved the creation of a studio on the roof of the building. Somewhat bizarrely, given the nature of the business, this is one of only a handful of line drawings published in this magazine - the remainder were all the new half-tone photo-lithographs. The assumed roof-top studio has now been removed and an additional storey added to the building

Building Type Classification

The building is classified under the following categories:
 ClassificationOriginal classification?Notes
Item 1 of 1Studio  

Street Addresses

The following street addresses are associated with this building:
 AddressMain entrance?Notes
Item 1 of 196, Deansgate   

Events

The following date-based events are associated with this building:
 FromToEvent typeNotes
Item 1 of 11892 Build/construction 

People

Design and Construction

The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column.
 NameRolePartnership GroupFromToNotes
Item 1 of 1John H Hamilton A1892  

Clients

The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design:
 NameNotes
Item 1 of 1Lafayette, James (James Stack Lauder) 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this building:
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Manchester Faces and Places Manchester Faces and Places  v3, p144 and illustration

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this building:
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1RIBA Journal9 November 1935v43London: Royal Institute of British ArchitectsObituary of John Hamilton, p38

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this building:
 SourceArchive nameSource catalogue no.Notes
Item 1 of 1Courtesy of Neil DarlingtonInformation sent via DSA website Sent October 2009