Construction began in September 1959 and was completed in 1962 at a cost of £3.98 million (equivalent to approximately £86.8 million in 2020). The main contractors for the CIS Tower were John Laing Construction Ltd, with A.E. Beer as the structural engineering consultant, and O. Castick, Chief Engineer of CWS as the engineering services consultant. The CIS Tower was officially opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 22 October 1962. At , the tower overtook the Shell Centre as the tallest building in the United Kingdom, a title it retained for a year until it was replaced by the Millbank Tower in London. It remained the tallest building in Greater Manchester until it was surpassed by the Beetham Tower in 2006. Renovation Within six months of construction, some of the mosaic tiles on the service tower became detached owing to cement failure and lack of expansion joints in the concrete. Although the tower was granted listed building status in 1995, falling tiles were an ongoing problem. English Heritage had to be consulted as alterations could change the building's appearance. In 2004, CIS consulted Solarcentury with a view to replacing the deteriorating mosaic with 575.5 kW of blue building-integrated photovoltaic (PV) cells which would generate approximately 180,000 kWh (average of 20 kW) of electricity per year. The work was completed by Arup and at that time was the largest commercial solar façade in Europe. The PV cells made by Sharp Electronics began feeding electricity to the National Grid in November 2005. The project, which cost £5.5 million, was partly funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency which granted £885,000 and the Energy Savings Trust at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) contributed £175,000. The solar power project was chosen by the DTI as one of the "10 best green energy projects" of 2005. Critical reception and listed status Upon its completion, the tower was praised by the architectural press and was awarded the Bronze Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1962. In the 1990s, it was granted Grade II listed building status by English Heritage. The tower, described as "the best of the Manchester 1960s office blocks", was listed for its "discipline and consistency". See also Listed buildings in Manchester-M60 Building-integrated photovoltaics List of tallest buildings and structures in Manchester References References Bibliography Skyscrapers in Manchester Photovoltaics Office buildings completed in 1962 The Co-operative Group Skyscraper