The Imperial War Museum North is a war museum in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened on the 5th July 2002 and was designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind and constructed at a cost of 28 million by Sir Robert McAlpine with engineering by Arup. The building has a highly complex geometry with sloping floors and ceilings and few perpendicular surfaces, designed to induce disorientation reminiscent of that caused by war. The large tower is known as the 'Air Shard' and has a viewing/observation platform at the top, accessed by a lift, with a good view of The Lowry and Salford Quays.