The city council bid for Millennium and other British and European funds and private sector finance to progress the project.

[4] A sting operation by the Salford Star in 2006 attempted to demonstrate intolerance towards unaccompanied teenagers in hoodies entering the complex.

A promenade encircling the building provides views of the Manchester Ship Canal, MediaCityUK and the Salford Quays developments.

[1] The foyer faces the public plaza, where there is a large aerofoil canopy at the entrance clad with perforated steel and illuminated from inside at night.

The bridge span is a tied arch and the towers are constructed in tubular steelwork to provide an open aspect to view the lifting counterweight and sheaves.

The new space cost £3m to develop and is part of an ongoing £5m investment programme to improve facilities and reduce the environmental footprint of the complex.

Major structural changes have taken place in the building for the design, including the removal of a large staircase and the addition of an external entrance to the bar and restaurant, as well as added areas made to look like shipping containers.

[10] The regeneration of Salford Quays with Michael Wilford's Lowry as its centrepiece has led to references in the media to the "Bilbao effect", the phenomenon where the creation of a new, architecturally striking cultural amenity (such as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao) brings economic improvement to areas of urban decay.

"[13] The complex contains 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft) of gallery space devoted to the permanent collection of works by L. S. Lowry, as well as other temporary exhibitions.

[18] An Archive Room houses material related to the artist including books, catalogues of his exhibitions and auctions, press cuttings, tapes of interviews with Lowry and others, photographs and ephemera.

The Lyric Theatre has also housed the first and only televised recording of the radio show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which Humphrey Lyttelton chaired in April 2008.