Those iconic yellow tiles that have arguably divided the city more than Brexit have graced our skyline since the 1970s.
The Arndale Centre has been through a lot in its almost half a century lifespan, even including a bomb.
Believe it or not, the Arndale gets more visits per year than the Trafford Centre, which is hard to believe given how busy the Trafford Centre gets come Christmas.
So while we’re all in lockdown, what about a nice bit of nostalgia to see you through the day?! Who knows, you might even spot yourself shopping for a t-shirt in C&A.
The Arndale was brought to life by Arnold Hagenbach and Sam Chippindale (actually his name). The duo changed the fate of our humble city with their revolutionary ‘Arndale’ idea.
After WWII, the entire area surrounding Market Street was a bit of a disaster, consisting of manky alleys, dingy courts and a confusing layout of winding streets.
And so came the flagship Arndale Centre, bringing with it the glitz and glamour of modern day Britain. It was built in phases between 1972 and 1979 and Manchester was buzzin’ fer it.
Naturally, like any building work, it didn’t go to plan. Initially, the developers demanded the centre house a bus station, market, car park, an underground railway station and – the most ’70s thing of all – as little natural light as possible.
Many people will remember the bus station located on a street that joined High Street with Exchange Square. It’s been described as ‘one of the dingiest, dirtiest and most disgusting places in the city’.
One of the weirdest parts of the development were the houses on the roof. From 1981 you could live on the top of the Arndale complete with a front garden and a tinge of yellow light from those tiles.
The development was officially opened by The Duke of Edinburgh (oooo fancy).
The houses lasted until 2003, where they were pulled down as part of the redevelopment in the wake of the IRA bomb in 1996.
A huge area of the Arndale was bulldozed and replaced during this renovation. Yellow tiles were replaced with modern glass and metal, part of the dingy windowless areas were replaced with vast open and full of light spaces.
Today, the Arndale is owned by M&G Real Estate and intu. It has a retail space of 1.4 sq ft making it one of Europe’s largest city-centre shopping malls.
It’s home to the largest Next store, the largest Office Shoe store (outside of London) and the largest glass store frontage in the UK.
So there you have it, a look back at the Arndale. Long may she reign!
