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The
Arndale Shopping Centre
  When it opened in 1979, much of this huge 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 next two the images are shown here with the permission of David Dixon. In the first you see the view along Corporation Street. Much of that part of the Arndale was destroyed by the IRA bomb, including the footbridge you can see in the distance and the bus station on Cannon Street.)  Considering the fact
that it covered 30 acres of the city centre and was
connected across Market Street by a hideously ugly
bridge, the Arndale was hard to ignore. Notice
in the image below that, in the beginning, traffic
continued to run up Market Street below the bridge.
 Despite the popularity
of "mall" shopping, many people regarded the Arndale
as an eyesore. It should be remembered though
that this brutalist architectural style was
fashionable at that time.
 Although the Arndale
wasn't damaged to the degree that adjacent buildings
were by the IRA bomb (perhaps the tiles protected it),
nevertheless in 2003 it was given a major overhaul. The
change is most apparent on the Cannon Street and Withy
Grove side of the centre including the building of a
large Next store.
 The Manchester Arndale
is the largest in-town shopping centre in the UK and it
attracts around 500,000 visitors each week.
         The Arndale Tower looms over the
complex and dominates the skyline in the vicinity.
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