The Arndale Shopping Centre - Corporation Street, Manchester, UK

Architect
 Wilson & Wormersley
Date Built
 1979
Location
 Corporation Street and Market Street
Description
When it opened in 1979, much of the huge Arndale Shopping Centre, designed by Wilson & Wormersley (the architects of the Hulme Crescents), was clad in yellow tiles giving it an appearance that many compared with a gigantic gents' toilet.

The image above (displayed here with the permission of David Dixon) shows the view along Market Street with the Marks and Spencer store off to the right.  Below is the view along Corporation Street with the Arndale Centre on the left and the footbridge from the Arndale to Marks & Spencer visible in the distance.




In 1996 the IRA parked a van containing a huge bomb beneath that footbridge and the explosion caused devastating damage to surrounding buildings. 



(The images above and below are shown here with the permission of the Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archive.  If you visit their Flickr Photostream you can see other interesting historical images.)



The van had been parked beside the pillar box that you can see in the images above.  After the explosion it stood undamaged and today it is still there beneath a new footbridge.  The pillar box has a brass plaque that commemorates the events of that day in 1996.



Following the explosion the Arndale underwent a major refurbishment and a great deal of glass replaced the yellow tiles.  Today only the Arndale Office Tower remains essentially unchanged.