Manchester Arndale - Redevelopment

Redevelopment

The centre was badly damaged in the 1996 Manchester City Centre bombing by the Provisional IRA and required extensive redevelopment work. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing the southern half of the centre was repaired and refurbished. The northern half was patched up with buses originally stopping on Cannon Street itself, before eventually being replaced by Shudehill Interchange in January 2006. Marks and Spencer, which was particularly badly damaged in the explosion, reopened in a separate building, linked to the main mall on the first floor by a glass footbridge which was designed by Stephen Hodder. Shortly after opening the large branch, the building was split into two independent shops. Half remained a branch of Marks and Spencer while the side facing The Triangle became a branch of Selfridges.

In Autumn 2003, as the final stage of rebuilding the city centre after the bombing, the whole of the half of the centre north of Cannon Street was closed and demolished. Over the next two to three years, the northern half of the centre was completely rebuilt and extended. The first phase of the "northern extension", known as 'Exchange Court', opened on 20 October 2005. Exchange Court features Britain's flagship and the world's largest Next store. This was followed by the second phase known as 'New Cannon Street'. This opened on 6 April 2006. Stores in this phase include a new flagship branch of TopShop and Topman.

On 7 September 2006 the third and final phase of the northern extension opened. The new Winter Garden features stores such as a new Superdry (formerly HMV, Zavvi & Virgin Megastores), a Waterstone's bookshop, and a new single-level unit for the Arndale Market. The completed mall provides a link from Exchange Square and The Triangle to the Northern Quarter, and from Market Street to The Printworks.

The southern half of the centre was refurbished, and there are some major design differences between the two halves of the centre. Halle Square was modernised, including new skylights, but there is still a major difference in levels of natural light between the original malls and the northern extension. The original 1970s malls were designed to "protect" visitors from the outside, whereas the newer malls seek to maximise natural light.