It took just eight and a half seconds and half a ton of explosives. In 1990, Kersal Flats entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest building demolished at one time.
But just 30 years earlier the vast high-rise estate was being hailed as the future of housing in Salford, with flats there among the most sought after council tenancies in the city. It was a spectacular fall from grace.
Kersal Flats were designed by Deansgate-based architects firm Cruickshank and Seaward, the firm behind the Renold Building at UMIST and the old Elizabeth House on St Peter's Square. Built at a cost of £1.7m - around £32m at today's prices - it was the largest housing project in Salford's history.
