Brise Soleil....

A brise soleil, French for 'sun breaker' is an architectural device that is put across a facade of a building to shelter the interior from the full glare of the sun.

The old Royal Eye Hospital on Manchester's Oxford Road, is having a make over. The Royal Eye Hospital moved a few years ago to a new building on the campus of Manchester Royal Infirmary. The old building has been restored and a huge block has been added behind it, connected to it by a glass atrium. It's going to be called Citylabs and will be a centre for biomedical research drawing on the expertise of the nearby Manchester University and MRI, one of Manchester's teaching hospitals.

It does seem to work well. The new building has a red/orange/vermillion brise soleil to shade it from Manchester's relentless sun. You can just see it in the gap between the buildings. I like how the orange contrasts with the green of the summer trees on Oxford Road.

Did anyone spot the irony?