Manchester meets China at 180 Waterloo Place
27 June 2016
The wait will soon be over and we will be moving to our new home, 180 Waterloo Place!
The Confucius Institute is moving into 180 Waterloo Place in August 2016. Our new home will contain a seminar and training room, testing centre and designated cultural experience areas in addition to office space. 180 Waterloo Place is easily located on Oxford Road and sits opposite the iconic University Place and we will hold academic seminars and business training there. The new testing centre will allow us to conduct online HSK testing more frequently and when not used for this purpose, will also be utilised as a space for language teaching and teacher training.
We will also have several areas dedicated to cultural experience including the resource centre where we will be installing an interactive video display that will allow visitors to understand what living and studying in China is like. The garden will be based on the traditional Chinese cultural game of ‘Go’, the game of wisdom. Squared paving slabs will form the ‘board’ of the game and black and white pebble seats will represent the stones used. Imagine drinking Chinese tea whilst listening to the Chinese zither under some beautiful wisteria on a summers day.
The new home is one of seven terraced town houses and part of the oldest residential buildings in the immediate area. They were built by Peter Tuer in 1832 and are all listed buildings. Over the years, the building has been used for various purposes including a dentists clinic. Now, in 2016 it will be turned into a hub where British architecture will meet Chinese culture and most importantly, a home for intercultural exchange.