Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Thread

keith's curle said:
Many thanks for the replies re 1 Piccadilly. And would definitely agree that although the city centre looks better than it has for a while, much of the character of the old brick and stone type buildings seems to be going (not that I've been into central Manchester in years, so only going by appearances. It's a pity that not even one of the new buildings seems to have scored a stir as a design; where's the equivalent of the gherkin or the shard?
Now that I've taken the thread off topic I might as well keep going and the mods can hang me for a sheep instead of a lamb. In Bill Bryson's book about travelling around Britain ('Notes from a small island'?) he says about Manchester something along the lines of it has no clear centre, no heart. Basically, nowhere that is Manchester in one image. As soon as I read it I knew he was right and that I'd probably known that myself for a long time. Piccadilly gardens was probably as good as it got, but it wasn't anything much. The square in front of the town hall is probably it now, but neither of those came be called iconic.
Does anybody disagree? Are Bill and myself out of date and things have changed? Would a nice big plaza somewhere (maybe with something in it/around it) be a paradigm shift?
Click to expand...
Notes from a quarter of a century ago.
 
keith's curle said:
Many thanks for the replies re 1 Piccadilly. And would definitely agree that although the city centre looks better than it has for a while, much of the character of the old brick and stone type buildings seems to be going (not that I've been into central Manchester in years, so only going by appearances. It's a pity that not even one of the new buildings seems to have scored a stir as a design; where's the equivalent of the gherkin or the shard?
Now that I've taken the thread off topic I might as well keep going and the mods can hang me for a sheep instead of a lamb. In Bill Bryson's book about travelling around Britain ('Notes from a small island'?) he says about Manchester something along the lines of it has no clear centre, no heart. Basically, nowhere that is Manchester in one image. As soon as I read it I knew he was right and that I'd probably known that myself for a long time. Piccadilly gardens was probably as good as it got, but it wasn't anything much. The square in front of the town hall is probably it now, but neither of those came be called iconic.
Does anybody disagree? Are Bill and myself out of date and things have changed? Would a nice big plaza somewhere (maybe with something in it/around it) be a paradigm shift?
Click to expand...

Sorry Keith, you are way off the mark. No offence. The vast majority of our red brick Victorian buildings have been saved in the latest building boom. Yes, we have lost some not great quality old buildings, but that is part and parcel of a changing city building cycle. Property developers are now more inclined to save and redevelop old buildings. The NQ and Ancoats being the prime examples.

I'm just doing my monthly city centre construction roundup for SSC. Been in town for over 4 hours and I've only just got halfway around the city centre. I used to do the whole city centre in 4-5 hours. It's construction madness in Manchester atm. 80 cranes!

Bar London, there isn't another (regional) city in the UK that has such a fantastic mix of old and new buildings side by side. That set's Manchester apart from other regional cities.

Albert Square will be iconic again. https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/manchester-showcases-car-free-albert-square/
Exchange Square is being revamped. So is the Cathedral Quarter. So is Piccadilly Gardens. The Great Northern Warehouse plaza is also being revamped. There's so much going on. It really is amazing how Manchester city centre is changing for the better. : -)
 
jrb said:
Sorry Keith, you are way off the mark. No offence. The vast majority of our red brick Victorian buildings have been saved in the latest building boom. Yes, we have lost some not great quality old buildings, but that is part and parcel of a changing city building cycle. Property developers are now more inclined to save and redevelop old buildings. The NQ and Ancoats being the prime examples.

I'm just doing my monthly city centre construction roundup for SSC. Been in town for over 4 hours and I've only just got halfway around the city centre. I used to do the whole city centre in 4-5 hours. It's construction madness in Manchester atm. 80 cranes!

Bar London, there isn't another (regional) city in the UK that has such a fantastic mix of old and new buildings side by side. That set's Manchester apart from other regional cities.

Albert Square will be iconic again. https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/manchester-showcases-car-free-albert-square/
Exchange Square is being revamped. So is the Cathedral Quarter. So is Piccadilly Gardens. The Great Northern Warehouse plaza is also being revamped. There's so much going on. It really is amazing how Manchester city centre is changing for the better. : -)
Click to expand...

There seems to be buildings going up everywhere in London. Stopped over for a night a few months back on the way to Heathrow and been to watch City there 4 times this season, you can’t help but notice all the construction that is taking place. Wembley looks like a totally different to what it was a few years go. I was watching the cricket the other day which was being played at The Oval, I’ve never notice the numerous high rise behind the big stand, so I presume they’re new to.
 
Wait till you all see some of the next plans! Those of you complaining about boring sky scrapers are In for a shock!!
 
Always hoped East Manchester would get a classy redevelopment- and whilst its still on-going much of the housing has been pretty bang average and really isn’t ageing well. Really need the Etihad Campus development - with the University and Rugby League buildings to be top notch.
 
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