Toast Rack (building)

The Toast Rack, officially known as the Hollings Building, is a Grade II listed building located in Manchester, England. Its distinctive architecture, resembling a toast rack, makes it a prominent local landmark.

The building was designed by city architect Leonard Cecil Howitt and constructed between 1958 and 1960 for the Domestic Trades College, later part of Manchester Polytechnic and then Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). It was originally used as a catering school, housing kitchens and dining spaces.

The Toast Rack's most striking feature is its reinforced concrete hyperbolic paraboloid shell roof, consisting of multiple thin, curved sections that resemble slices of toast in a rack. This innovative design allowed for a large, open interior space without the need for supporting columns.

Following MMU's relocation of its catering and hospitality courses, the building fell into disuse and disrepair. It was sold to a private developer in 2014 and has since been redeveloped into apartments. The exterior of the building has been preserved due to its listed status, while the interior has been significantly altered to accommodate residential units. The Toast Rack remains a well-known and architecturally significant structure in Manchester.