Everything about Manchester Arndale totally explained
Manchester Arndale (known locally as
The Arndale Centre or just
The Arndale) is a large
shopping centre in
Manchester City Centre,
England. The centre was built during the 1970s, and was subsequently redeveloped after the
Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb in 1996. Manchester Arndale is the largest in-town retail centre in the
United Kingdom.
History
Manchester Arndale is the largest of a chain of
Arndale Centres built across the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. It was constructed in phases between 1972 and 1979, at a cost of £100 m.
Over the past decade, the centre has seen large-scale redevelopment. The centre now has a retail floorspace of 1,400,000 sq ft (130,060 m²), making it the UK's largest city-centre shopping mall.
(External Link
) It has held this record continuously since construction apart from a brief spell during the northern redevelopment when the title was held by the
Birmingham Bullring. As well as retail space, Manchester Arndale also includes a 96 m tower containing office space.
When originally built, many locals regarded it as an eyesore as it was clad in unattractive yellow tiles, earning it the nickname "The world's biggest public lavatory". Since renovation began, the tiles have been removed and a more modern tile, along with mirrors, has been introduced.
By the late 1990s the centre was no longer owned by the Arndale Property Trust. A rebranding was proposed, but subsequently abandoned. Today the centre is jointly owned by
Prudential and
Capital Shopping Centres.
Redevelopment
The centre was badly damaged in the
1996 Manchester City Centre bombing by the
Provisional IRA and needed extensive
redevelopment work. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing the southern half of the centre was repaired and refurbished. The northern half was patched up with buses originally stopping on Cannon Street itself, before being replaced by
Shudehill Interchange in January 2006.
Marks and Spencer, which was particularly badly damaged in the explosion, reopened in a separate building, linked to the main mall on the first floor by a glass
footbridge which was designed by
Stephen Hodder. Shortly after opening the large branch, the building was split into two independent shops. Half remained a branch of
Marks and Spencer while the side facing
The Triangle became a branch of
Selfridges.
In October 2003, as the final stage of rebuilding the city centre after the bombing, the whole of the half of the centre north of Cannon Street was closed and demolished. Over the next two to three years, the northern half of the centre was completely rebuilt and extended.
The first phase of the "northern extension", known as 'Exchange Court', opened on
24 October 2005. Exchange Court features Britain's flagship and the world's largest
Next store and
River Island.
This was followed by the second phase known as 'New Cannon Street'. This opened on
6 April 2006. Stores in this phase include a new
flagship branch of
TopShop (
Topman).
On
7 September 2006 the third and final phase of the northern extension opened. The new
Winter Garden features stores such as a new
Virgin Megastore to replace the one that used to be on Market Street, a
Waterstone's bookshop, and a new single-level unit for the Arndale Market. The completed mall provides a link from
Exchange Square and
The Triangle to the
Northern Quarter, and from
Market Street to
The Printworks.
Only the southern half of the centre has been extensively refurbished, and the pictures show some major design differences between the two halves of the centre. Halle Square has been modernised, including new skylights, but there's still a major difference in levels of natural light between the original malls and the northern extension. The original 1970s malls were designed to "protect" visitors from the outside, whereas the newer malls seek to maximise natural light.
Food Court
Like many large shopping malls, Manchester Arndale has a
food court. The Food-Chain (formerly known as Voyagers) is an 800-seat
food court situated on the second floor above the far south-west tip of the centre. It can be reached by an escalator from
Market Street and from the first floor at the south-western tip of the centre close to
Argos and the first floor entrance to
Boots.
Image gallery
Image:Manchester Arndale Exchange Court.jpg|Exchange Court
Image:Apple_Store_Manchester_Arndale_Opening.jpg|The Grand Opening of the new Apple Store in September 2006
Image:Manchester Arndale New Cannon Street.jpg|New Cannon Street, looking towards Exchange Court
Image:Manchester Arndale Halle Square.jpg|Halle Square, in the Southern Half of the Centre
Image:Market St From Foodchain.jpg|The view of Market Street from the Food-Chain. Note also the new cladding on the centre. The infamous original yellow tiles can still be seen in the picture at the far end of centre
Image:Arndale Winter Garden 3.jpg|The new Winter Garden shortly after completion
Image:Arndalecentre tower.jpg|Yellow Arndale Tower above the entrance
Further Information
Get more info on 'Manchester Arndale'.
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