Manchester Arndale

Manchester Arndale is a large shopping centre in Manchester’s city centre. It stands on Market Street, where Victorian buildings once lined a maze of alleys and courts. The centre was built in stages between 1972 and 1979, replacing older shops and warehouses. Its design followed earlier plans from the 1940s to modernise the area after the Second World War. The city council used compulsory purchase orders to assemble the land for the project. Town & City Properties took over the scheme in 1968, and the centre opened in phases from 1975. The centre is one of Europe’s largest city-centre shopping malls, with nearly 130,000 square metres of retail space. It attracts over 41 million visitors a year, more than the Trafford Centre. The original plan in 1965 aimed to create the UK’s biggest single shopping centre, costed at £15 million. Boots opened its largest store at the time there in 1973. The scheme included seven pubs and plans for a 200-bed hotel, though not all were completed. The redevelopment followed the 1996 Manchester bombing, which damaged parts of the city centre. Inside, the centre connects to major department stores like Marks and Spencer and Selfridges via a link bridge. The layout centres on Market Street, with shops arranged over several floors. The design reflects mid-20th-century ideas of modern retailing, with wide walkways and large storefronts. The area around the centre was once known for its lively but run-down coffee bars in the 1960s. Today, the building dominates the streetscape, a product of its time and the ambitions of planners and developers.