The Northern Quarter

[SleepyOne]

http://www.aidan.co.uk/lg/ManOldhamStSp2803.jpg



Parts of the following article sound a bit dated (97/98 time) now but I thought it might serve as a semi-useful introduction until I find something more suitable!



The Northern Quarter

The NQ is a unique area of the City Centre, and an unrealised asset for Manchester. It is contradictory and paradoxical: Oldham Street, the central thoroughfare, has boarded up pubs, sex shops and choking traffic fumes alongside designer bars and cafes, nationally recognised record shops, fashion outlets, and 'regenerated' office space. Shabby, with stylish next door.




The NQ is one of those areas lying between the City Centre and the 'inner city' residential belt that characterises many British cities. It was the central trading area in Victorian Manchester, home to the City's Smithfields food markets - bustling activity from dawn 'till dusk, a 24 Hour economy. In post war years it was Manchester's main shopping district, Oldham Street its central attraction. The retail revolution of the 60s and 70s suddenly left it marginalised. Land and property values plummeted and the retail sector went into decline. But this marginalisation has also allowed new sorts of business operations into the area, just as it has allowed activities mostly banished from city centres to persist.



http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/maps/northern-quarter-map.jpg



It is a still a mixed-use area of the sort that has disappeared in many cities and is now sought anew by the current wave of urban regeneration: Fashion designers and market traders; curry houses and architects; council houses and craft centre; designer hairstylists and barrowboys; World-Wide-Web weaving microbusinesess and sewing machine shops; recording studios, renowned music venues, record labels and pram shops, pet shops, wool shops; a Methodist Hall and a Buddhist Centre; Dickensian pubs and ambient chill-outs.



City Fringe: Zone of Innovation
The NQ is a 'transitional zone', a city fringe. Its marginal status is its weakness and its strength. All big cities have these zones, sandwiched between the city centre and the outer districts: Camden, Hackney and Whitechapel; Belleville in Paris; SoHo and the Lower East Side, NewYork's emergent 'silcon alley'; Gracia in Barcelona; Keuzeberg and Oranienburger in Berlin; Naviglio in Milan.

These areas not only provide a refuge for smaller, marginal businesses, they act as incubators of new economic activity. Cheap rents, short contracts, lots of sub-letting are accompanied by dense networks that allow both old and new businesses to survive and grow. Many of these new businesses fail. The ones that succeed and grow will quite possibly move out to other areas of the city. They are generators not showcases.

City Fringes are crucial to the economy of the city. They are areas of seedbed industries - and of a special sort. They tend to be innovative and thrive on the localised accumulation of knowledge, skills and ideas that are transmitted by dense networks. Economists have called this clustering. In the 80s science parks and industrial districts were seen to reap the benefits of this cluster effect. In the 90s one of the major economic advantages of cities will be to provide for and build on this clustering, adding to the new the dense accumulation of older existing networks.


Creative Quarter
One of the main strategies for NQ regeneration is as Manchester's 'creative quarter'. It is not a 'cultural quarter' in the commonly understood sense of an area of mainly subsidised cultural provision; it refers to its function as a zone of innovation, experimentation and risk-taking.

This is not just about immediate job creation, nor about the regeneration of a particular area (though it involves both); it is about the strategic role of the Regional Centre as a whole. If Manchester is to move forwards into the next century, as a city that works and not just limps along, then it needs to adapt and innovate. No one thing will provide for this, but as with education, we all know that without information, communication and knowledge this will not happen. The cultural industries exist at the heart of these and play a crucial role in the adaption to change and the pursuit of innovation to which Manchester strives.

The NQ can be Manchester's cultural industries quarter, focusing and extending its support for new creative businesses; its urban training quarter, building links between new businesses, the big cultural production houses and the huge Higher and Further Education resources that this Regional Centre possesses; its intelligent quarter, establishing Manchester at the forefront of the Information and Communications revolution; its creative quarter, linking this creative and innovative sector to the development of the wider city economy.

The focus is on economic regeneration, capitalising on the increased importance of the cultural industries as a growth sector - but the creative quarter incorporates the new models of urban regeneration which value quality of life and urban milieu as a creative, supportive environment. The NQ certainly has its share of heritage; its Georgian cottages, its looming 19th century warehouses, hidden traces of popular culture in its pet shops, pubs, even cinemas and roller rinks. With its adjacent districts the NQ already has three Conservation Areas and a range of listed buildings. But this heritage is to be linked to the future.

City centre living, the 24 Hour City, the 'European City' - these are all different ways of creating and sustaining a new metropolitan lifestyle, a new way of living in the city. If the Centre is not to be destroyed by the out-of-town retail and leisure complexes it must begin to create new forms of attraction and civic pride, suited to the 21st century.




The NQ is a city fringe, a metropolitan zone as vital to the success of the city as the great showcases of the centre. Only a few cities in Britain outside London can sustain such areas; all vibrant cities have them. Here the city is fertile ground sprouting seed bed industries; here networking and clustering takes place, small and microbusinesses creating synergy; here is urban living, thriving on that sense on cultural animation, expression and experimentation not found in other city spaces; here are urban art and urban pleasures which vividly express that dynamic urban culture which is the true mark of a cosmopolitan, creative city.

[ChrisCharlton]

View of Coliseum and site of new Hemmingway apartments:
http://chris.charlton.net/tube/pallmall.jpg

23 (my building) and 25 Church Street (both with conran interiors):
http://chris.charlton.net/tube/23churchst.jpg

And looking towards High St on a busy winter evening:
http://chris.charlton.net/tube/highst.jpg

[oscar9]

Interesting read. The northern quarter is a fascinating area. but can feel intimidating IMO ,is it true they used this area in a recent film to recreate a downtown New York look?Certainly gives that feel with all the tall fire escapes and large red brick buildings.All they would need is a few dont walk signs and yellow traffic lights suspended over the road and there you have it.

[oscar9]

Oh and some skyscrapers :)

[Accura4Matalan]

Looks pretty cool. I dont know much about this area. I've only ever been as far as Afflecks Palace. Any pics of Stephenson Square?

[highriser]

accy,,click on the link on Gavin's post in the Stephenson Sq thread for the pic you want

[Accura4Matalan]

Found it, ta highriser.

[Northbeach]

Top pics Chris.
I'd be interested to see any plans for High Street (which you have somehow managed to look good!!).
It's a bit 70's Warrington at the moment :(

[SleepyOne]

The Birchin Building
http://www.thebirchin.co.uk/images/allelev.gif



Ician Masterplan
http://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_12.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_13.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_17.gif

Current phase of Ician - Icon25
http://www.investorfirst.ie/images/8/1_lrg.jpg
http://www.investorfirst.ie/images/8/2_lrg.jpg




Pall Mall House
http://www.theprestigegroup.com/uploads/med-image21108991236.jpg

[highriser]

Cheers for that Sleepy,,Icon25 looks like it's going to be stunning,
Where's the Birchen building?
And i was going to mention that corner of Shudehill and Swan St the other day,that building thats there now as become a right eyesore , have you got a render of the "Hanover" part of the masterplan?

[dgnr8]

No skyscrapers please. Keep this area of the city as it is, use and height wise. Imagine plonking a 150m tower in the middle of Camden. You'd shit your leg off and demand a jihad was placed on whichever son of a bitch wanted to destroy the cool bohemian vibe belonging to the home of London's alternative scene. Granted, it's more corporate these days but that enough has lead to Camden being a bit shit these days. I'd rather everything in the NQ were kept local and independent, please.

[jrb]

A hidden gem in the Northern Quarter! :)

Well worth a visit!

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/john-col/images/contact/mcdc1.jpg

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/john-col/images/contact/mcdc2.jpg

Manchester Craft Centre
17 Oak Street, (off Tib Street) Northern Quarter,
Smithfield, Manchester M4 5JD.
Tel: 0161-832 4274. Fax : 0161-832 3416.

A novel designer, maker, studio, retail craft market set in a grand old Victorian cast iron and glass building in the Manchester Northern Quarter, fully restored to its former glory. Unique combinations of workshops where you can see artefacts being made, and retail studio showrooms where you can browse and buy the merchandise.

It is rather hidden away amongst new residential developments just off Tib Street at the Swan Street end, in the so-called "Northern Quarter" of the city centre, just 5 minutes walk from Piccadilly Gardens. Good nearby street car parking. Jointly run and promoted by the North West Arts Board, Arts About Manchester, Greater Manchester Visitor Centre, North West Tourist Board and Manchester City Council.

It has very much of a feel of the old "guilds" of artisans, and the atmosphere is both relaxed and invigorating. Two storeys of arcaded workshops with an excellent vegetarian café/restaurant (formerly "The Olive Branch", recently resurrected as "Dr Livvy's Café") on site, where you may take a light meal to the accompaniment of live piano music.

The two floors of designers, contemporary craft workers and artists who trade here deal in a wide range of media, including : ceramics, textiles, jewellery, sculpture, screen printing, carved wooden artefacts, glassware, furniture and designer clothing and accessories. Most of the craft workers exhibit at trades fairs, and there is a regularly changing programme of exhibitions and displays.

A good place to shop, to browse, or to take a morning coffee or lunch. Open Monday to Saturday from 10.30am-5.30pm.

http://www.craftanddesign.com/

[SleepyOne]

No skyscrapers please. Keep this area of the city as it is, use and height wise. Imagine plonking a 150m tower in the middle of Camden. You'd shit your leg off and demand a jihad was placed on whichever son of a bitch wanted to destroy the cool bohemian vibe belonging to the home of London's alternative scene. Granted, it's more corporate these days but that enough has lead to Camden being a bit shit these days. I'd rather everything in the NQ were kept local and independent, please.

dgnr8, totally agreed. N/4 is simply not the place. Cities need variety. Pall Mall House is probably the tallest we'll see I think.

Where's the Birchen building?

Its directly behind Pall Mall House, currently covered in scaffolding facing the rear of the Debenhams building.....
http://www.movingmanchester.com/images/45bedordead1.jpg



Im trying to cobble together information on some of the N/4's major assets and attractions such as Afflecks Palace, Chinese Arts Centre, the Craft and Design Centre, Bhuddist Centre. Anyone want to chip in with some suggestions or pictures?

[caw123]

I was round the northern quarter today. Searching for a QID t-shirt in Affys Palace, no luck. The net will do I guess. Photos next time.

[highriser]

Caw if you refering to a Queen is Dead tshirt try Slater's just around the corner,,i'll get some pics of the NQ next time im on a photo stroll .

[jrb]

http://www.peterfreeman.co.uk/tibst/tibstreetweb.jpg

Highly animated and visible from miles around, this beacon sculpture uses brilliant neon colours to reflect the vibrancy of this rapidly developing area - a location of refurbished warehouse apartments, creative design businesses and bars.

Big Boys Toy is a 12 metre high animated neon sculpture installed on the top of Tib Street car park in the centre of Manchester.

Commissioned for the Northern Quarter, Manchester in 1998.

[Northbeach]

The Buddhist Centre Building is great - now that's New York in Manchester if I've ever seen it.
http://www.manchesterbuddhistcentre.org.uk/mbcfront.jpg

The Earth Cafe part of said centre:

http://www.earthcafe.co.uk/images/earthcafephoto.jpg

The whole area has developed rapidly of late (some great boozers opened - Rodeo etc).
Spot on with the Independent feel being retained.
Has more record shops per sq whatever than EB could shake a stick at.

[oscar9]

No skyscrapers please. Keep this area of the city as it is, use and height wise. Imagine plonking a 150m tower in the middle of Camden. You'd shit your leg off and demand a jihad was placed on whichever son of a bitch wanted to destroy the cool bohemian vibe belonging to the home of London's alternative scene. Granted, it's more corporate these days but that enough has lead to Camden being a bit shit these days. I'd rather everything in the NQ were kept local and independent, please.
How much of an impact is the eastgate tower going to have on NQ or is it far enough away?

[pookgai]

How much of an impact is the eastgate tower going to have on NQ or is it far enough away?

I also live in 23 Church Street =P

Anyway, Eastgate will have some effect on the N1/4 albeit small. The N1/4 is just slightly out of range. However, if more independent stores and eateries open up here, then it will draw more people from all over town.

[Gavin]

Eastgate will surely have a similar effecdt on N1/4 as Sunley and CIS. It will be visible from parts but I think it will be clear that its a seperate area.
The larger developments surrounding N1/4 will have a wrapping effect almost. An entrance to the area from all sides.

[ChrisCharlton]

Interesting read. The northern quarter is a fascinating area. but can feel intimidating IMO ,is it true they used this area in a recent film to recreate a downtown New York look?Certainly gives that feel with all the tall fire escapes and large red brick buildings.All they would need is a few dont walk signs and yellow traffic lights suspended over the road and there you have it.

Yeah - can't remember the exact streets but it was in Summer 2003, and I think Jude Law was in it.

[ChrisCharlton]

Top pics Chris.
I'd be interested to see any plans for High Street (which you have somehow managed to look good!!).
It's a bit 70's Warrington at the moment :(

We get very general planning letters through all the time concerned wit the Arndale extension. Obv the old bus station entrance is being redeveloped at the moment, and I think there will be more street facinc retail, but as far as I am aware there are no plans to extend the new Arndale cladding to this side, apart from over the main entrances to the malls.

[jcg]

[QUOTE=ChrisCharlton]Yeah - can't remember the exact streets but it was in Summer 2003, and I think Jude Law was in it.

it was the shit remake of alfie, and used high street. it was all a bit mental, raised pavements, bagel shops, suspended traffic lights, yellow cabs, cop cars. really mental, and looked like the real thing.

the northern quarter is manchester, we've got to be careful we don't ruin what we have here. This is what most other cities in the uk are lacking, a creative heartbeat. people getting of their arses and staring businesses, brilliant, exciting and slightly edgey. just upsets me what they've done to dry.

[dgnr8]

It was filmed in the same spot as the first 2 series of Cutting It. That areas had loads of tv work the past few years. Can't remember the name of the road for the life of me though. It weren't high street anyway.

[dgnr8]

Heh, sorry, it was High Street. I'm teh rubbish, roxor!!

[highriser]

From todays MEN

Early birds catch homes
Jill Burdett

PLANS: Birchin
THE cheapest apartments in Manchester are going on sale at dawn in an attempt to catch key workers.

Designer Wayne Hemingway is launching his first residential scheme in the Northern Quarter at 6am on Thursday, May 26 - hoping to give nurses, firemen, teachers and shop workers a head start as they clock off shift or leave for work.

The Birchin, a restoration of a department store building, is opposite Affleck's Palace, the place where Hemingway and his wife Gerardine launched their cult Red or Dead clothes label in the 1980s.

He is determined that people who work in the Northern Quarter should have the chance to live there. Blackburn-born Hemingway said: "We are giving key workers an unashamed head-start and the first opportunity to buy a home in The Birchin."

With only a couple of apartments available under the magic £100,000 - one studio at £79,950 and another at £82,000 - they will have to set the alarm early to be in with a chance.

One-beds start at £114,950 and two-beds from £132,950. There is no car parking but you do get a fold-up bike.

In total the development will have 90 apartments and of the 20 released in the first phase, six have already been sold - all to first-time buyers.

Since selling their label for a substantial sum a couple of years ago the Hemingways have formed their own design consultancy and become outspoken critics of mass housing design.

They are already working with Wimpey in the north east on a large scheme to prove that big does not need to mean bland.

In Manchester they have teamed up with local company Dwell Developments to make affordable apartments right in the heart of the city centre.

Estate agents Bridgfords have been signed up to sell The Birchin and manager Martin Moston said: "This launch is extremely significant because its success could lead to other affordable housing developments, not just in Manchester but other cities too.

"I believe the demand will be high for this type of economy-minded but quality-focussed development."

The first days of the Manchester property boom saw people queuing through the night to buy apartments.

It will be an interesting indicator of the market and the confidence of first-time buyers to see how many are waiting at 6am on Thursday

[spacepostman]

Yeah I think Eastgate will have an impact on the N/4 but not as mujch as it will on the Piccadilly area. I live on Ducie St but it's definatley out of the N/4 which sort of ends at the canal basin. It is afterall a quarter not a half hehe

[Accura4Matalan]

There is no car parking but you do get a fold-up bike.
LOL! :laugh:

[EarlyBird]

Early birds catch homes

http://www.schwarzenegger.it/gallery/musclegallery2/m412.jpg

[andyains]

Affleck's Palace, the place where Hemingway and his wife Gerardine launched their cult Red or Dead clothes label in the 1980s.

Blimey, I remember when Red or Dead was in Afflecks. Showin' me age.
Off to get me pipe and slippers to go with my Hemingway grandad cardigan

[caw123]

Caw if you refering to a Queen is Dead tshirt try Slater's just around the corner,,i'll get some pics of the NQ next time im on a photo stroll .

Ah Slaters. Knew that was round there somewhere, been in it before but I couldn't find it the other day. Must have been hazed.

[highriser]

i think it's on the junction of Church St ,Newton St

[skit_uk]

The Wayne attraction
The Red or Dead guru is creating low-cost homes in a city centre, says Jayne Dowle





PAUL COUSANS

IT’S THE STUFF of which a first-time buyer’s dreams are made. An apartment, in the middle of Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter, for under £80,000. And it is designed by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, proprietors of the iconic 1980s fashion label Red or Dead turned property gurus. There must be a catch.
Well, there are only 90 of them, which start at £79,950 for a studio (from 270 sq ft ), £114,950 for a one-bedroom flat and £132,950 for a two-bedroom flat. The most expensive is about £169,500. And when The Birchin project goes on sale next week (May 26), key workers, usually priced way out of the market, will have first refusal.

“We’re going to release the apartments for sale with staggered selling times, starting at 5am to catch key workers as they come off shift: nurses, firefighters, then teachers, retail workers etc,” says Hemingway. “They will have to prove what they do, but they will be able to choose one before anyone else. We will have to keep some apartments back, obviously, because if 100 firemen turn up all at once it will end up as a firemen’s hostel.”



Investors, he says, are to be held at bay. Quite how he and the property company Dwell Developments, with which the Hemingways are collaborating, plan to do this without the help of guard dogs is unclear.

Blackburn-born Hemingway, who sold Red or Dead for a multimillion-pound sum at the end of the 1990s, is committed to creating stylish, affordable housing. He has collaborated with Wimpey Homes on four developments, and has set his sights on regenerating the mill towns of his native Lancashire.

Today he is in his trademark smart suit and shirt combo, in the fashionable deli Love Will Save the Day, two minutes’ walk from The Birchin. Hemingway, 45, is reminiscing about his punk years. His affection for Manchester, especially the Northern Quarter, with its converted warehouses, eclectic shops and quirky bars, is obvious. So it is fitting that The Birchin, carved out of a 1930s warehouse, is bang opposite Afflecks Palace, the market where Red or Dead opened its first shop in 1982.

The Birchin takes its name from the street it backs on to. With its tattered concert posters and jumble of architecture, it reminds you of the similarities between this part of Manchester and parts of New York. On the corner, though, is a very Northern pub, where old men sip pints through the smoke. And across the road is an unlovely multi-storey car park.

There will be no parking spaces with the apartments. Instead, each will come with a free Brompton folding bicycle, complete with, as Wayne proudly points out, a special hook for behind-the-door storage. Integrating parking into the basement would have sent building costs soaring. Hemingway insists that affordability comes before profitability. But keeping budgets as tight as possible is key to the success of this site, which was acquired for a relatively inexpensive

£2.5 million but is costing £20m in total.

“To be honest, I don’t know how they’re going to make any money out of it at all,” says Elisabeth Williams, head of new homes at Savills in Manchester. “Although values in the Northern Quarter are still some way behind the rest of central Manchester, these are very cheap apartments.”

The area has a wide variety of conversions, so it is difficult to suggest typical prices, but you would be pushed to find anything decent for less than £130,000. Across the whole of the city, including the wildest fringes of Greater Manchester, the average cost of a flat is £134,719.

So why be so altruistic? Hemingway concedes that his company, hemingwaydesign, is “brave”, but maintains: “The guys at Dwell have the same attitude as us. They are a new company and they genuinely want to leave a legacy. Dwell are taking great pride in getting things done cost-effectively. And if they can do this, and do it well, they will get respected by councils all around the North.”

Other savings instigated by Hemingway include retaining the original concrete stairs and installing a no-frills lift. “Lifts cost a fortune. Surely it’s more important to spend money on the inside of your home,” he says. The original idea was to have penthouses on top of the eighth floor. These were ditched, partly because of the extra structural costs, partly because the return on penthouses per square foot would have been uneconomical, and also having an “exclusive” level would have altered the ideology of the building.

“Gerardine and I have shied away from inner-city developments before because just about all of them are unaffordable,” says Hemingway. “They’re about rich business people being able to live in the city centre. None of the things we had been offered fitted in with our philosophy. But this is very different. We can do affordable housing in a place where normally you would pay a fortune to live.”

They can also do it because they have sourced all of the interior fittings themselves, using local suppliers where possible and companies with whom they already have working relationships. The wallpaper is produced by Graham and Brown, the kitchens come from a Blackburn company, and Formica are making the worktops, featuring unique Hemingway patterns in a choice of stripes or a knives and forks motif. “All the apartments in Manchester go for the designer names — but why should we do that . . . we are designers ourselves,” says Hemingway.

Habitat is furnishing the show apartment, each item chosen by Gerardine to reflect the neutral palette she has devised; a Lofa oatmeal textured sofa; an Our Crowd pressed steel lampshade with dancing figures. There are also plans to offer a Habitat furniture package to buyers at a discounted price, possibly even devising a way to include the cost within a mortgage.

So savings all round. But will the keen prices at The Birchin have a knock-on effect across the city centre? Elisabeth Williams thinks not, because the development is tiny compared with huge sites such as Crosby Homes’ Greenquarter, which has 1,500 units. And while there is a steady stream of buyers and investors willing to pay big money for a Manchester pad, few developers are going to slash their deals ridiculously low.

The Birchin apartments are an interesting experiment now. But they will be fascinating in a few years’ time, when they are priced to hit the resale market. Will the Hemingways’ own dream of stylish and affordable housing hold true?

[Subtract]

I feel safe and at home in the N 1/4, its full of culture and creativity and has by far the best music shops in Manchester. I stupidly turned down living in Smithfield a few months back but Its definately one place id love to live, luckily I worked around there for just over 2 years aswell.

[SleepyOne]

Couple of interesting articles particularly on Northern Quarter institution, 'Love Saves the Day (http://www.lovesavestheday.co.uk/public/)' - their history, their "sexy food" and, excitingly, their expansion plans.


Savouring the day she started
Sarah Walters

http://www.lovesavestheday.co.uk/images/editor_images/David%20Lake%20LStD%20photographs%20oldextwee102.jpg

LOVELY OCCUPATION: Beckie Joyce
BECKIE Joyce has never been afraid of a challenge. But she admits that not all her choices have been wise ones.

The first of them was during her early 20s, when she jumped on a flight to Naples. "I got over there and couldn't speak a word of Italian and only realised how stupid that was when I got off the plane," Beckie laughs in hindsight. "I had spotted an au pair's job in a magazine in 1988 and I went just to get away."

Fortunately, she rose to the challenge and picked up the language and a job teaching English within three months. Her trip may sound hedonistic, but Beckie is not the first woman in her family to take a leap of faith into a career.

The 36-year-old is the third in a line of successful businesswomen; she follows her grandmother, who ran a number of Maid Marian convenience stores, and her mother, the co-owner of two successful china shops in Southport and the Lake District before she died of cancer while Beckie was still young.

"My sister, Sam, and I grew up thinking it was actually quite normal to start your own business," says Beckie. "My dad was a sea captain in the Merchant Navy.

"He was away for half the year and that probably added to my belief system that you just got on with it. I always thought I would end up in a profession, but actually my path was probably set."

Urban

In 1990, Beckie returned to the UK. Her degree in urban studies from Sheffield Polytechnic and knowledge of Italian got her a shoe-in at Manchester city council's planning department promoting a revolutionary new technology - the Internet.

"I was obsessed by e-mail when nobody knew what it was! After that, I got a job with the policy unit working with Howard Bernstein, then there was the bomb and that sort of rallied the spirits that we could do things that could change the city.

"That idea of being entrepreneurial - of making decisions and just doing things - was handed down to me by the council."

It was during her time with the council that Beckie met her husband, Chris Joyce. She was sent to meet the former drummer with Simply Red in place of her boss. It was love at first sight: "We had one of those really bizarre moments in this office!"

Then a record producer, the Manchester lad changed Beckie's outlook. "Chris opened my eyes to another way of working. I realised you didn't have to go to work at 8am and come back at eight o'clock at night."

Developed

The couple, and a number of friends, developed a building on Little Peter Street for commercial and residential use.

They soon realised that the bomb had destroyed the only outlet in the city for fresh food, so Beckie and Chris commissioned some market research through Manchester University and began looking for sites for a deli. Their first shop opened on Tib Street in the city's up-and-coming Northern Quarter in 1999.

"It was unheard of to have not come from within the industry - either you were a chef or you'd been in the wine trade for years. I'd always been a good cook; I used to have nights in with my friends when I was about 14 and the fact that none of them would eat anything other than baked beans and pizza didn't stop me doing rack of lamb or other precocious things!

"All the people in the trade said, `Be a restaurant, be a wine merchant or do sandwich take away, but don't put all those together. But if you don't know the rules, you don't know you've broken them."

The deli, Love Saves the Day, named after a graffiti slogan spotted on a wall in New York, soon earned an enviable reputation for its fresh produce, local delicacies and humble décor - the sterling board shelving and bare-brick walls helped to keep the budget down.

Preserve

But these features have become part of the café's recognisable "colour" and Beckie has been keen to preserve them in the recent £300,000 move to bigger premises on Oldham Street. "We wanted to bring elements over so that people could walk in here and recognise it as LStD."

The uniqueness of her brand is something Beckie has thought long and hard about; both she and Chris have been vocal about Manchester's increasingly bland café culture. "The issue of independence is not Manchester or UK specific - we go on holiday and expect to see lovely little shops, but increasingly we're seeing another Zara or Starbucks.

"Big corporates do raise the game and push the standards up, but independence needs to be valued because we want cities that have a point of difference, otherwise what is the point of coming to Manchester?"

Independence hasn't always been easy for Beckie either - until 18 months ago, she was still on the service rota and was in early to sweep floors and clean toilets.

"There have been times in the past when, financially, things have been a nightmare and if we'd had the luxury to get out, we would have. Big corporations can close outlets that don't achieve within 18 months, but when it's your own money it forces you to get it right."

Luckily, Beckie has kept her head. LStD has a second successful outlet on Deansgate, run by sister Sam, and employs 25 staff and an executive board.

http://www.lovesavestheday.co.uk/images/editor_images/LSTDOldhamStInterior-0030wee.jpg
Expansion

Turnover has quadrupled since 1999 and the move has caused a 30 per cent jump in sales. The next step, though, poses more of a moral dilemma - expansion.

"We do want to make it bigger and the challenge has been how to do it in a way that fits with our ethics. We're going to franchise because being a manager is not enough in this business - your margins are too low, your staff bill is too high and fresh produce means waste.

"We have two more outlets already planned in Manchester and our franchisees are raring to go."

It could have been so different. "If someone else had opened a deli and done it well, we might not have done it," says Beckie, who was expecting her son, Oscar, when LStD first opened its doors.

"But this job is really like having your cake and eating it. I mean, it's hard and the hours are long and the margins are horribly tight. But you get to try all these great wines and all this great food every night - it's a lovely occupational hazard!"



Key to the future

Ben Rooth
THEY are the key workers who don't yet own the key to the door. But both Duncan Dampier and Donna McManus believe that a new city centre development could be the answer to their prayers.

Like many young people, they had become resigned to a life in rented accommodation after watching the price of property spiral ever upwards over the past few years, pricing them completely out of the market.

But a new development in Manchester's Northern Quarter has firmly placed homeownership in one of the city's up and coming areas within their grasp.

When the 90 new apartments in fashion designer Wayne Hemingway's Birchin development, which range in price from £79,950 for a studio to £132,950 for a two-bedroom flat, went on sale at 6am last Thursday, they were among the first through the door. A total of 22 flats in the Birchin have been sold so far.

"We have lived in cheap, rented accommodation in SportCity for the past two years and saved money wherever possible to get our deposit together," explains Duncan, 25, who works for Action For The Unemployed.

"When we arrived at the show apartment at 7am, we were thinking about buying a single-bedroom flat for £87,000 but, having seen the space that you get, we are thinking about buying something bigger.

"And it looks as though we will be able to afford something. We are going to make our decision over the next few days."

http://www.thebirchin.co.uk/images/allelev.gif
Central

Donna, 23, who works for Lex Vehicle Leasing, added: "We have looked at a lot of property in SportsCity and the green quarter but this is far more central. That's what we've been holding out for.

"The prices are reasonable and I also think that your money goes quite a long way here, by modern standards. Another draw is this part of the city - it has a good feel to it."

The government is promising a revolution in home ownership. Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, recently threw down the gauntlet to building firms by asking them to come up with the £60,000 home.

As recently highlighted in the M.E.N., a Welsh building firm is about to complete its first housing estate of £55,000 homes in Rugby.

In the last week, Chancellor Gordon Brown has unveiled proposals for "shared equity" schemes to assist 100,000 first-time buyers onto the property market. This means couples may have to raise only as little as half the cost of their home - while the government funds the other half.

Scheme

Caroline Barnes was the first person to arrive at the Wayne Hemingway scheme, so keen was she to secure a two-bedroom second floor flat for £132,950. She believes that the Chancellor's new initiative will stabilise the housing market amid fears that we are heading for a recession.

"At the moment, I don't think that anyone knows what will happen with the housing market, but I think that these new initiatives will help stabilise things," said Miss Barnes, who has been renting in Salford Quays.

"If I hadn't been able to get my foot on the property ladder today, I would have looked into this shared equity scheme.

"I think that it would greatly assist lower income aspiring professionals like me to buy somewhere in high value areas. But I couldn't be more delighted to have bought this property. The Northern Quarter keeps getting compared to New York's Lower East side - I don't think the prices will tumble." And this is a view echoed, perhaps predictably, by Hemingway.

Key

When he first started the development, it was intended to ensure that each of the apartments was sold to key workers, people already living in the northern quarter, and to first-time buyers - in that order. And he hopes to keep property investors and speculators at bay.

"When I embarked on this project, I wanted to make a political statement," says Wayne, who founded 1980s fashion label Red Or Dead with his wife, Gerardine.

"They are intended to promote city centre living and encourage local people to buy locally.

"These flats are somewhere between 25 to 40 per cent lower in cost than other comparable developments in this city, and we've done this through not buying designer fixtures and fittings but making our own.

"This is a part of the city which I love and it was where we opened our first shop in the early 1980s. When I go jogging in the city now, either late at night or early in the morning, one of the things I notice is that there are few lights on in many of the residential developments.

"Many of them have been bought by property speculators and are left empty as they accumulate in value. In my opinion, that can't be healthy for communities.

"My abiding wish is that this development will help the continuing regeneration of this part of the city by allowing the people who really want to live here to get a foothold on the property ladder."

[Northbeach]

Was around this neck of the woods last night with a couple of old friends.
Pretty much blown away by the rate of development around here.
There were bars open we never knew existed (and most probably didn't up until late last year).
Indie's at that - has the council dropped rental charges in this area to actively encourage such businesses?
The small scale new york villages/soho descriptions are beginning to sound less hollow.

[dgnr8]

The Icon 25 effort will be a welcome addition I reckon. Fits in with the current new build but is sympathetic to the older lowrise of the area. And like Northy says, the indies definitely give it a nice urban Manc feel, our very own Soho type nonsense. All we need now is dodgy kebab shops and my mother opening a burlesque house.

[Northbeach]

She already has Wiggles.
I owe you.

[dgnr8]

Dad!!!!

[caw123]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P6060024.jpg

Down Church Street today.

[SleepyOne]

Every time I see that wretched multistorey car park I just think of how much better the whole area would be by getting rid of the damn thing.

It really would transform the area from an up-and-coming, vibrant but worn-around-the-edges type of district to a genuine, top class destination (without losing any of its character).

The council are really missing a trick.

The most stunning part of the Northern Quarter IMO is the view from Stephenson Square looking down Dale Street. The buildings that line this area are superb. Very much like Cross St or Deansgate in terms of quality, scale and aesthetic character but without the vibrancy just yet. The whole area just oozes potential.

[Northbeach]

Indeed it does Sleepatical, indeed it does.

[highriser]

http://www.chapmanrobinson.co.uk/search.asp

Not seen this before, go to res/comm , manchester in the search

Funky 7 storey lowrise for Spear Street in the NQ

[Mez]

Well after Piccadilly Gardens getting mutilated, Im not the biggest fan of this lot.

[highriser]

This hotel reported in today's MEN, would this replace the derelict building on the junction of Shudehill and Swan St ?




*A 230-bed four-star project on the Smithfield site of the bustling Northern Quarter area. Developer Ician has revealed it is having talks with the Inter-Continental Hotels Group.The group runs 19 hotels across the country under the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, including a Plaza hotel at Manchester Airport.

[SleepyOne]

Yeah thats good news. Should be quite a large building a 230 bed hotel if the ICIAN masterplan is faithful

http://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_12.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_13.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_17.gif


Also noticed this planning application for Stephon Square in N/4:

Ancoats And Clayton Ward 073496/FO/2004/C2 06/06/2005

1/3 Stevenson Square City New mixed use development comprising use class A1 (shop) at ground floor 50 No. flats on upper floors (use class C3) and basement car parking following demolition of existing buildings

[dgnr8]

Is this in the area?

Ancoats And Clayton Ward 075253/FO/2005/N1 09/06/2005 Car Park On New Mount Street/Simpson Street Ancoats Erection of a 9 storey building to provide student accommodation (235 units), and ancillary car parking

[caw123]

That's off Rochdale Road. Odd place for some student flats, surrounded by trading estates.

[highriser]

Icon25 starting to take shape

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/iconjune.jpg


And the scaffold as come off this building, looks fantastic, the NQ as shit loads of building's that need doing up


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/northq.jpg

[caw123]

^ A hidden gem.

Heres that Oldham Street building that was recently refurbed:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P6290005.jpg

[SleepyOne]

What a beautiful little building you've captured there highriser, thanks.

Here's another wee render of the forthcoming Pall Mall House.

http://www.prestigeinternational.com//components/com_hotproperty/img/std/pall_mall_model.gif

[highriser]

Sleepy next time your in the area go and see it in the flesh, it is a beaut, in between the windows is rounded off pinkish marble, the pic doesnt do it justice

Its facing the Chinese Art Centre and Bluu Bar

[ManchesterISwonderful]

Sleepy next time your in the area go and see it in the flesh, it is a beaut, in between the windows is rounded off pinkish marble, the pic doesnt do it justice

Its facing the Chinese Art Centre and Bluu Bar


Agree Highriser lad. It is indeed a beaut. And not the only one in that area. Shame they're all kinda hidden.

[highriser]

MiW, thats what i love about the NQ though,walk around all them tight little streets and you see something different evertime,esp now they are being done up one by one,,,another beauty in that area is just off Newton St (i think) it as a external metal staircase on the side of it ,its in a bit of a mess at the moment but it is fantasitic ,i'll get a pic next time im in town

[highriser]

The fabulous entrance to the old Smithfield Market hall,,,Is this going to be a gallery ?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/smithmarket.jpg

[dgnr8]

Erm, solar panels on the cis? Magic.

[frozenmusic]

give a spotters badge to that man. what a funny place to start them.

[Northbeach]

I quite like the odd bar thats recently opened.
They show short films on selected nights also.
I was with a friend there this evening - he amassed 200 photographs around this area tonight.
Beer was deserved.

They seem to have patched the panels in a couple of ad hoc locations for some reason?? Very dark looking.

[SPIDER-MAN]

xx

[frozenmusic]

is that the top then?

edit. actually, looking at it, maybe that's the top of the easy bit, before they have to worry about those vents or whatever they are?

[highriser]

Two stunners on Dale St,,that are being made into apartments

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/manchesterpicsjuly003.jpg

Ilove this building just off Newton St,,its begging to be done up

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/nqbuilding.jpg

And this beauty over looks Stevenson Square

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/stevesquare.jpg

[SleepyOne]

highriser - great pics. Dale St is such an underrated street - so many wonderful buildings.

It has that big city feel about it but feels like its "in mothballs" at the moment, waiting to be brought fully back to life.

I think the Northern Quarter in general would benefit greatly by doing away with those steel rollershutters. Perhaps something that you can see through that lies behind the glass like you see in the shops on King St and elsewhere.





That building that you've captured on Newton Street has recently (at least in part) been converted to a great little backpacker's hostel called Hatters (after its historical use).


Hatters Hostel, Manchester.

Since opening in 2003 The Hatters has become quickly recognised as Manchester’s favourite hostel. Convenient to all the main live music and sporting venues as well as a city centre location we will offer you a clean, safe, warm, inexpensive and hospitable stay in Manchester.

Experience the vibe that is Manchester by hanging out in our lounge or in any of the local Northern Quarter haunts that are legend in this part of Britain.
The northwest of England is renowned for its people, Manchester is infamous for its music and we are famous for our outstanding welcome and value.


http://www.hattersgroup.com/resources/gallery/outside_01.jpg

http://www.hattersgroup.com/resources/gallery/outside_02.jpg

http://www.hattersgroup.com/resources/gallery/reception_02.jpg



http://www.hattersgroup.com/

[cottonopolis]

I'm staying at the hatters the last week of august with five mates from denmark!

[highriser]

Pall Mall getting covered with scaffold now

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/mancpics18thaug003.jpg

[ferge]

Ooo...exciting :D take it they're about to start yet another project.. London, take note :P

[skymann]

Pall Mall getting covered with scaffold now

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/mancpics18thaug003.jpg

Thank God they're starting Pall Mall House at last. Been waiting for this one for ages. Just waiting for the extra 9 floors to be added to Lee House off Oxford Street.ANyone know if they'll be starting that one anytime soon?

[dannyb]

^I was thinkin that skymann; when i asked a couple of office workers from there a few months ago, they didnt have any idea of the plans :S. Anybody any info on lee house??

[SleepyOne]

News. Can't find the image though unfortunately.

26 August, 2005 Consultant Atkins has unveiled images of its concept design for the £11m county records office to be built in Manchester city centre.

The project will involve the refurbishment of the grade II-listed Mackie Mayor building in the city’s Northern Quarter together with a newly built record store. The building will provide an archive facility for Manchester council and the surrounding boroughs, creating a purpose-designed home for all of the county’s essential records.

[Sir Miles Platting]

News. Can't find the image though unfortunately.
You mean they are going to keep Oldham's, Bolton's etc records in the centre of Manchester? Shouldn't their records be kept at Lancashire's records office? I mean they keep reminding us that they are 'in' Lancs so how can their records be kept in a 'non-existant' county office?
And won't Stockport want their stuff to be kept at Chester?
There could be street riots over this.....

[Jongeman]

As far as I know, Greater Manchester met boroughs' records have always been kept in a central location in this area, somewhere. Methinks

[Sir Miles Platting]

Sorry jongeman, I forgot to put one of these ( ;) ) on my comment... ;)
It was tongue firmly in cheek.....

[Jongeman]

I think we should keep schtum about all this. We don't want to see a load of Stopfordian exocet missiles appearing over Lancashire Hill, locked onto the county records office

(Especially if it's new-build!)

[Potato Man]

Historic records for the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester have been held at the GM County Records Office since the 1970's. It is just off Rochdale Road - just round the corner from the Mackie Mayor building on Swan St.

http://www.gmcro.co.uk

Trying to find a picture of the Mackie Mayor building I stumbled across this from Building magazine - http://www.building.co.uk/linkMatches.asp?linkcode=1275

Mackie’s back in town 26 August, 2005

Consultant Atkins has unveiled images of its concept design for the £11m county records office to be built in Manchester city centre. The project will involve the refurbishment of the grade II-listed Mackie Mayor building in the city’s Northern Quarter together with a newly built record store. The building will provide an archive facility for Manchester council and the surrounding boroughs, creating a purpose-designed home for all of the county’s essential records.

http://www.building.co.uk/Pictures/web/v/q/p/34news12.jpg
Consultant Atkins has unveiled images of its concept design for the £11m county records office to be built in Manchester city centre

Final completion and handover is expected to take place in 2008.

Can't help but feel sceptical of this though. The word 'concept' always worries me, and I don't imagine these county records guys are rolling in money to fund such a project.

[ForeverSalfordRed]

You mean they are going to keep Oldham's, Bolton's etc records in the centre of Manchester? Shouldn't their records be kept at Lancashire's records office? I mean they keep reminding us that they are 'in' Lancs so how can their records be kept in a 'non-existant' county office?
And won't Stockport want their stuff to be kept at Chester?
There could be street riots over this.....

Manchester's city is at the centre of the Metro area!

[highriser]

The fabulous entrance to the old Smithfield Market hall,,,Is this going to be a gallery ?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/smithmarket.jpg

Is this the Mackie Mayor building ?
Where the new archive building is going?

Look what was planned a few years ago for it

http://www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk/interiordesign/projects/

[highriser]

Interesting document,makes good reading

http://www.mipc.mmu.ac.uk/nqn/vision2.html

[Mez]

Highriser. I dont believe so. From memory, I think Mackie Mayor is one of the sheds on the East facing side of Skyline central.

[rolybling]

Im sure that used to be my YTS building in that pic Highriser, it looks great in that pic. It will look fantastic if it gets a new lease of life, Ive always thought Ancoats St and Swan St would make a great addition to the city if they were used to their potential. Some very nice buildings in that part of town, just need some TLC :grouphug:

[Farsight]

And some of them need one of these:

http://inventors.about.com/library/graphics/bulldozer.jpg

[Jongeman]

Great potential on Great Ancoats St. It's a strange stunning/shite mix of buildings.

The development of this part of town seems to have been dead slow. Spose the priority might have been to save what's in Little Italy first (oh, and build another fuckin retail shed further down!)

[caw123]

Does anyone have a link to the Prestige Group website, the companu behind Pall Mall?

There's www.prestigeinternational.com , but there was another which had a bit more info about the project, anyone?

[SleepyOne]

Caw - http://www.theprestigegroup.com

http://www.theprestigegroup.com/components/com_hotproperty/img/std/pall_mall_model.gif

http://www.prestigeinternational.com//images/stories/press_release/pall%20mall%201.gif


Pall Mall House

NORTHERN QUARTER
MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE, Manchester
United Kingdom

Originally made up of 3 individual buildings, Pall Mall House is being carefully refurbished into one ultra-cool apartment complex in a continuation of the renovation of Manchester's Northern Quarter and Piccadilly Gardens. Ongoing development is regenerating this once busy commercial area to produce a distinctive creative quarter for urban, hip city living.

Consisting of 169 exceptionally priced residential apartments and 1668 square meters of commercial space, Pall Mall House will re-shape the changing landscape around Piccadilly Gardens. The tallest section of the building, a 19 story tower standing 67 metres high, will hold its own as one of the most imaginative tall buildings in Manchester city.

Established as one of the most charismatic and unique areas in the city centre, it appeals to the young and trendy, with Afflecks Palace as the Quarters focal point, set within one of Manchester's most historic buildings and specializing in clothing, hair salons, record stalls, clairvoyants and cafes. New bars and restaurants are opening around the Quarter, helping to boost rental income.

Manchester is seen as the commercial, education and cultural capital of the UK's largest economic region outside of London. Many industries have moved North to relocate in Manchester, bringing with them a young professional workforce. This has ensured that residential demand levels keep rising giving exclusive opportunities for investment.

The Piccadilly Gardens area, within the heart of Manchester city centre, links the major retail and commercial areas of the city and is known as one of the most important gateways into the regional centre through its function as a key transport interchange.

[kids]

If they get shut afflecks, i hope they do something similar to this to the building.

[Sussex Albion]

I hope you don't mind a visit from an outsider. In my opinion, the Northern Quarter has a great deal of similarity with an area of my home city, Brighton. In Brighton's case, it is the North Laine, again an area on the fringe of the city centre, which was formerly an industrial area. The North Laine has a lot of quirky shops (there are 350 shops in just that area), some excellent record shops, and some wonderful pubs. It is a bohemian artists' quarter and also has that edgy feeling of not being owned by the retail giants. There have also been some fine recent building developments, including Argus Lofts and the Jubilee Library (check this out in the Frank Gehry thread in the Projects and Construction section). Have any of you visited recently?

[SleepyOne]

Thanks for your contribution Mr Albion.

Yes I agree there are some great similarities between the Northern Quarter and The Laines. The Laines so seem to be much better served in terms of shops and cafes at the moment. Its a really great laid back district with wonderful character and yes, there are parallels to our Northern Quarter.

I see Northern Quarter to be less advanced on the 'evolutionary curve' though. Its still very much work in progress but the infrastructure and the buildings gets better by the year. Brighton is a great place, a very laid back city and The Laines district reflects this with its wide streets, quite smallscale buildings and its relaxed atmosphere. The district seems very 'linear' in character too. NQ by comparison is more urban and hard edged and based more on a grid of streets.

Both districts are great assets to their respective cities, similar in some ways but quite different in others.

[highriser]

The scaffolding as now been taken down from this building,looks great

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/2october006.jpg


And a really like these little touches in the NQ,,
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/2october004.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/2october003.jpg

Oh by the way ,trees have started getting planted up Oldham St.

[Farsight]

Nice.

Thanks for all these pics highriser.

[Bim]

Yes i like the added touches to the NQ very much...quite quirky and interesting.
Good to hear about the tree planting too...in my opinion you can never have enough trees...they work wonders for urban environments...apart from Langworthy!

[Lookin Up]

This part of town is my current favourite- got it's own character and most importantly the only real bit of the city centre that allows young entrepreneurs a bit of expression ad creativity - that's why it's so interesting. Avoid at all costs letting the corporate animals in McD / Starbucks etc.
Actually just had a thought - how about the Civic Society instead of having a go at tall buildings did something useful and campaigned to keep NQ big corporate free?

[Jongeman]

The Civic Society don't quite think in those terms. Even though they're about 20 years old, they're already a bit of a spent force. They think they understand Manchester, but in reality,they've got no more of an idea than any other Mancunian.

[kebabmonster]

Highriser-those pavement photos, which street are they on? Never noticed/knew about them before

[highriser]

Highriser-those pavement photos, which street are they on? Never noticed/knew about them before
There on Oldam St outside Dry bar, i think they are new mate

[Crozzauk]

The Northern Quarter has more potential than any area of the city. There are so many beautiful old buildings in the stretch between Shudehill and back Piccadilly, many that are either derelict or used as warehouses.

The potential for residential, office and retail space seems unique, and extensive, but i would say its an area where things need to happen naturally, thus allowing it to keep its character.

In my eyes the most criminally under utilised area is Stevenson Sq. I love this area but save a few cafe's, and wholesalers, very little seems to be here. I think its got real potential to be a major hub of activity. A few bars, some more offices, more retail, a few trees planted, some facelifts given to some of the buildings, you'd be looking at one of the finest and unique parts of the city. Anyone aware of any development plans in this area specifically?

[Craig]

There on Oldam St outside Dry bar, i think they are new mate

They've been around for ages - done around the same the unique street signs were put up as part of a NQ public art programme some ten years ago.

[highriser]

They've been around for ages - done around the same the unique street signs were put up as part of a NQ public art programme some ten years ago.
Craigo,,i know about the ones that have been there for ages ,but i do think these ones are new,,, or ive been to pissed to notice them before :)

[SleepyOne]

One thing that struck me walking round NQ recently (aside from the dire need to do away with the NCP) is to perhaps widen the pavements on Dale Street. This would make it more pedestrian in nature rather than dominated by ridiculously high speed traffic and would encourage more retail and lesiure provision on this magnificent and much under utlised street.

I also hope that the shift in bus services to the new interchange raises the possibility of a pedestrianised Oldham Street, perhaps also getting rid of that damaging link road that runs through Piccadilly Gardens into the bargain.

[Farsight]

Sounds good to me SleepyOne. Roads and traffic can really spoil a place.

[caw123]

A crane tower is now up at Pall Mall House:
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/1850PallMallHouse_pic2.jpg
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/1850PallMallHouse_pic1.jpg

[dannyb]

excellent; was wonderin when this was startin. is that the crane that has suddenly appeared with no horizontal arm on it currently? if it is, i should be able to see this rise from work :D

[highriser]

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/1850PallMallHouse_pic2.jpg


I do hope that heap of shite on the corner of Church St, High St gets demolished in the not to distant future, what a disgusting building that is ,
Bazooka the Bastard NOW :)

[Jongeman]

HIghriser, I've never noticed the building on the right. It's an affront to humanity......(too much?) :)

Thanks caw for the pic and render of Pall Mall House. I hadn't quite figured out precisely where it was, but now I know. It's bloody fantastic, makes the NQ look even more like New York than it already does.

Just had a thought. Get rid of Church St carpark.....it gets more evil every time I see it, incorporate the surface car park opposite and you've got a new square/piazza. Could be the social hub of the NQ, along with Oldham St.

[rolybling]

HIghriser, I've never noticed the building on the right. It's an affront to humanity..


It's not that nice jongy..hehe.

Its nasty, I hope someone drops a big old bomb on it and soon :cheers:

[skymann]

It's not that nice jongy..hehe.

Its nasty, I hope someone drops a big old bomb on it and soon :cheers:

Can't bring to mind a worse building in Mcr. Would be great if they demolished it and got another sleek apartment block in its stead. Maybe a nice 25-35 floor job to go well with Pall Mall House.

[rolybling]

well something on a par with the Conran building would be nice, quality wise I mean, its really lifted that junction no end

[GShutty]

The scaffolding has finally started to come off the Birchin and it looks class. They haven't tried to be clever, just classic grey windows and a cleaned white stone exterior. Really pleasing.

If you look at the first page of this thread, you can see an old image, of boarded up windows. It should look fabulos when along with Pall Mall House it's all completed. Perhaps the ubiquitous JRB (or anybody else) can get a photo of this!?

As said sometime ago, I believe the building on the corner of Church St and High St, housing (not the conarn one!) has about 12months left to live. I hope so.

It's some way off now, but when the new glass market is in place, instead of BHS (comp.2009), that part of the city will be top drawer!

[Legin]

Here you go, Also check the website, the best elevation unfortuantely will be facinng Debhanem's

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/legin3/Picture001.jpg

[SleepyOne]

There was a good picture of the completed Birchin posted on another thread. Can't remember where. It looked good though.

[edit - thanks Legin]

What form will the Market St / High St junction take? Will this part of the arndale actually be rebuilt do we know or merely given the same disappointing reclad as the rest of Market St?

[Northbeach]

Daniel Liebskind will build his rumoured retail scheme (matching the height of Debenhams and Lewis's) here Sleepy. I read that on a tight pocket of the internet a while ago.
Didn't actually mention this particular plot but it's a nice thought eh?
I'd be interested to know also.

btw - does anybody know what the area of land behind the CIS/around Rochdale Road is called (there's a little hidden park here also). Many thanks.

[GShutty]

Yeah Northbeach, thats' called Shudehill and the Park is Angel Meadows. Apparently it can't be built upon as it is a burial ground for plague victims and the virus is still active! Really nice there in the summer just to escape for a while.

Now that the wraps are coming off the latest Green Quarter Buildings that area is beginning to feel less and less isolated, and with Icon.25 almost ready and schemes that cross Rochdale Rd, namely Skyline Central, it will soon be part of the City Centre, rather than a short stroll through no-mans land. Promising

[spacepostman]

The Civic Society don't quite think in those terms. Even though they're about 20 years old, they're already a bit of a spent force. They think they understand Manchester, but in reality,they've got no more of an idea than any other Mancunian.

Why don't we start our own? :)

[jrb]

Daniel Liebskind will build his rumoured retail scheme (matching the height of Debenhams and Lewis's) here Sleepy. I read that on a tight pocket of the internet a while ago.
Didn't actually mention this particular plot but it's a nice thought eh?
I'd be interested to know also.

btw - does anybody know what the area of land behind the CIS/around Rochdale Road is called (there's a little hidden park here also). Many thanks.

Care to expand on this info Northy?

Never heard of this scheme before! How old are the rumours, etc, etc!

Is that why that end of the Arndale remains untouched?

[GShutty]

I'm sure that the corner of Market St/High is going to be a glass market. The area that is now a car park will be re-clad. It won't be special, but it will be an improvement, most significantly the ground floor retail space (comp. Xmas 2006).

With the perceived increase in footfall on High St, given the Shudehill Interchange as well, they must surely have to think about pedestrianising High St.- trams aside.

[Legin]

If you are interested in the history of this area check this websit out. http://www.ancoatslittleitaly.com/

[SleepyOne]

I'm sure that the corner of Market St/High is going to be a glass market. The area that is now a car park will be re-clad. It won't be special, but it will be an improvement, most significantly the ground floor retail space (comp. Xmas 2006).

Are you sure? Forgive my ignorance but isn't that the single level Market hall they are constructing at present within the ground floor of the present multistorey arndale car park, fronting High St? That of the lame, tokenistic limestone cladding panels covering just this ground floor.

It would be surely folly not to substantially rebuild that corner of the Arndale centre of a scale to match the grand Debenhams and Primark buildings, adjacent? At present, its sheer ugliness is magnified by its prominence unfortunately and it doesnt get much better the further you advance down Market St. They need to do something drastic here. I do like the Liebeskind rumour you keep peddling though Northbeach, however improbable!

[Northbeach]

Indeed Sleeps.
Keeps taunting me though beyond the intragrave (I've searched high & low but cannae find anything to substantiate this). Read'ed its with me own mince pies though.

Yeah Northbeach, thats' called Shudehill and the Park is Angel Meadows. Apparently it can't be built upon as it is a burial ground for plague victims and the virus is still active!
Still Shudehill then? Blimey.
Mind you the plague bit puts me off a picnic idea in Angel Meadows in the summer.
We need to get Acorah round there with Sam.
Cheers.

[Farsight]

What's a Glass Market?

[Manc Guy]

A market selling glass :lol:

[kids]

Just found this, a rather nice looking apartment block in the northern quarter by Chapman Robinson Architects (http://www.chapmanrobinson.co.uk/fulldetails.asp?ID=51)

Spear Street

http://www.chapmanrobinson.co.uk/images/sp_elev1.jpg http://www.chapmanrobinson.co.uk/images/sp_model1.jpg

28 new build apartments with retail/commercial at ground floor level
Corner of Spear Street and Great Ancoats Street, Manchester


This is a 7 storey high density apartment block in the heart of the Northern Quarter regeneration area of Manchester.
Riverside have a number of schemes in the area which are designed to meet the need for key worker housing in the city centre.


Client: Riverside Housing Association
Budget: £2,500,000.00
Programme: 2003 - 2005

[SleepyOne]

I suppose you could call this Northern Quarter although it fronts our main gateway route into Piccadilly Gardens. Good to see this finally on site although not sure when the new-build block is due to start.

Piccadilly Estate

The Piccadilly Estate comprises 5 prominent city blocks fronting Piccadilly in the heart of Manchester City Centre. The buildings consist principally of typical Manchester Victorian warehouses, most of which are Grade 2 listed. Provan and Makin gained planning permission for the conversion of most of the estate into over 200 residential units, with some commercial units. The works, currently on site, involve refurbishment, and new build elements together with a new public open space called Adelphi Square

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/frontview.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/map.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/model.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/powmodel.jpg

A new public square and more commercial units, together with the bringing back to life of an important block of buildings - all good news.


Architects are Provan and Makin

[highriser]

Cheers for that Sleepy , i was around this area today , theres loads of builder's in and out of the back of these building's , on Back Piccadilly and China Lane.

So the new build will replace the Prince of Wales building?looks good , and looking at that model , the building where the open space (Adelphi Sq) as already been demolished,,all systems go in Piccadilly

[jrb]

I suppose you could call this Northern Quarter although it fronts our main gateway route into Piccadilly Gardens. Good to see this finally on site although not sure when the new-build block is due to start.



http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/frontview.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/map.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/model.jpg

http://www.provanandmakin.com/PROJECTS/798PICCESTATE/powmodel.jpg

A new public square and more commercial units, together with the bringing back to life of an important block of buildings - all good news.


Architects are Provan and Makin

Good find Sleepy!

Should improve London Road even more!

I long for the day when all those sweat shops are closed down and all those wonderful warehouse are redeveloped!

The whole area would look like Greenwich Village in New York!

[rolybling]

Good find Sleepyone,

The Northern Quarters no where near its potenial yet, around Stevenson Sq needs sorting out, get rid..sorry..Help to relocate all those cheap wholesale clothes shops and it could start to feel like Greenwich Village around there.

[Northbeach]

The transport interchange should help. There's an absolute wealth of such buildings in this part of the city - it's almost another city within this city.

The street improvements at the top of London Road are somewhat of a very nice suprise.

[Farsight]

It's nice to see this end of town coming on. Long may it continue so that eventually it comes up to the standard of places like St. Annes square.

[highriser]

The shop that is facing Pall Mall across the road, the one that sell's mad shit like bong's :) ,, well it was getting covered in scaffolding is it getting demolished or refurbed?

[jrb]

Not seen this before! Some of you probably have?

Zinc coating? Sounds interesting!

Houldsworth Street, Manchester

background and brief
The Houldsworth Street scheme for Creative Lynx lies on the edge of Manchester's Northern Quarter. The scheme comprises a 9 storey, 59 unit residential scheme above A1/A3 space.

http://www.broadwaymalyan.com/bmalyan/dms/4B59C510E479061B6AF0F84B07F3AD36.jpg

[Farsight]

Not bad jrb. I haven't seen that before.

It's a shame it's only 9 storeys. And it's a crying shame the top floor is for midgets.

[highriser]

As requested by Dgnr8,, Icon25
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/december13th012.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/ANTEATPETE/december13th011.jpg

[Farsight]

Now that looks neat. Thanks for the pics highriser.

[RanjitSingh]

Not at all sure about that one. The grey reminds me all too much of some low rise inner-city 70s / early 80s jobs. The curve fortunately plays down on the otherwise similar boxy council estate edge to it. Where abouts in the NQ is it?

[Farsight]

Next to the new transport interchange and multistorey car park in front of CIS. You can see the multicoloured wall.

[skymann]

Not at all sure about that one. The grey reminds me all too much of some low rise inner-city 70s / early 80s jobs. The curve fortunately plays down on the otherwise similar boxy council estate edge to it. Where abouts in the NQ is it?


It looks far better in real life. The colour is more blue than grey and the curve of the building is really impressive. Get down to the Northern Quarter and check it out.

[SleepyOne]

Another smart building from MBLC. The wooden hoardings to the ground floor are still to be removed to reveal the retail / lesiure / office units.

http://www.icianonline.com/images/index_12.jpg

http://www.icianonline.com/images/residentialp3_13.jpg

[rolybling]

Not at all sure about that one. The grey reminds me all too much of some low rise inner-city 70s / early 80s jobs. The curve fortunately plays down on the otherwise similar boxy council estate edge to it. Where abouts in the NQ is it?

I wouldn't say it was council estate-esque, it looks pretty classy to me, the sort of building that will really enhance the area

[Craig]

This development has a modern elegance to it. I would have liked to have seen the windows set back with a good 'reveal' rather than being flush with the brickwork.

Far too many poorer architects try to make up for their shortcomings by over egging it and using too many materials/details etc. - Calderpeel's Citygate springs to mind as well as the LRW one on Chapel Street.

[Farsight]

Well said Craig. Yep, you need that reveal to make the building look solid and satisfyingly "right". Like on the curved building above, it gives the impression that the walls are about 400mm thick. But with a bigger stretch of flat wall lacking contour or relief, like on SleepyOne's post, the impression is lost and the building can start to look flat, thin and cheap.

I too dislike those buildings with multiple "surface treatments" like a bit of brick and a bit of render and a bit of timber and a bit of tile and a bit of this and a bit of that. Especially seeing as it's usually red brick. I'm not saying I want buildings to be a single colour or texture, but multiple surface treatment is no substitute for the lines and the relief.

[Northbeach]

Blue brick if the new red brick.
Conran's High Street Apartment's confirmed/benchmarked that ideal.
Any new pics complete with out-of-character-for-high-street-but-nonetheless-appreciated homewares/lighting store would be very welcome :)

[dgnr8]

Bloody hell, I missed this. Thanks Highriser. I'm happy with that, I especially love the wee mosaic tiles on the cladding. The windows could've been better thought out if they were to be to the fore as they are, but I would've prefered them sunk, with room to breathe, if you get me. Meh.

Overall, top job. Hopefully the retail will be upto standard.

[caw123]

Aye, Icon 25 is a decent addition. Aerial, before the wraps came off:
http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/1413-1/shudehill-aerial-mg9267.jpg

[SleepyOne]

^^ Thats a great pic. Just as the materplan indicates.

http://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_12.gif

Anyone know what the next phase is?

[highriser]

http://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_12.gif


looking at the map i would have thought, they would open up New George St before starting the blue plots

[SleepyOne]

Whoops. Should have posted both parts of the masterplan image.

http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/1413-1/shudehill-aerial-mg9267.jpg
ARIEL VIEW OF ICIAN DEVELOPMENT, NORTHERN QUARTER



http://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_12.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_13.gifhttp://www.icianonline.com/images/masterplan_17.gif
ICIAN MASTERPLAN


Arn't there proposals floating around to develop the Mackie Mayor building as a records office?


Once complete this development will add another dimension to the original and best Northern Quarter. Smithfield Square in particular looks like being a great destination once complete.

[Isaac Newell]

It's a shame they didn't turn that shell of the market back into a market with some decent food.

[Accura4Matalan]

Is that little square in the arial image open to the public or just residents only?

[ibswif]

Is that little square in the arial image open to the public or just residents only?

I think its protected by keypad entry gates , so it's accessable to residents only.

[Accura4Matalan]

Damn, looks pretty good too :(

[Gavin]

you used to be able to walk through the square. The ground florr units were set aside as commercial at one point.

[Legin]

Couple of odds and sods taken today,

The Birchin Building facing the back of Debenhams

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/legin3/mm019.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/legin3/mm030.jpg

Maghull renovation on Dale Street.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/legin3/mm021.jpg

[cottonopolis]

great pics Legin - the Birchin is lookin amazin.

[Legin]

Thanks - I agree I've been really surprised - once the scaffolding has come down -on the the appearance of this building. Having seen so many bog standard, fit for purpose apartment schemes in the city such as Belway's Gateway, David Mclean's Ropeworks et al, this seems to me to be a breath of fresh air. It's just a pity the best elevation is backing on to a side street,

[caw123]

I think its protected by keypad entry gates , so it's accessable to residents only.

The gates are never locked, I walk through it all the time. There's offices on the ground floors on one side, and (I think) a resturaunt on the other.

[GShutty]

The gates are locked at night, for resident security and are accessible via a key fob entry system- the key pad being used by postmen, contractors etc. I can't remember, as I never use that entrance, but I think the public access times are 8am-8pm.
Bluu Bar has outdoor seating in the square- weather appropriate and it would be nice if the Chinese Arts Centre used the space a little more to extend their tea room. There is one unit that is being used as a marketing suite, that I guess will reopen once they have apartments to sell again- Icon .25 having sold out rapidly. May make a nice non-Starbucks coffee shop once Ician have relinquished use.

[Legin]

Thanks for the info GSutty. Have you got any info on the Alfred Mcalpine development going up behind the Design House.

[GShutty]

Nothing at present Legin, but I'm not working now until 03/01, so I should have time to investigate.

Perhaps more of a Piccadilly Basin point, it's debatable, but a new Tapas Bar called 'Lammar' has opened, on Hilton St. :cheers: (Close to the back of Vantage Quay). It's in the basement of a building called 'Fourways House' and is very nice. It's got some great original features inside and there is a really well refurbished atrium that's worth a look at. Good to see more signs of life being breathed back into this part of the city!

[Farsight]

That Maghull is nice. That's the sort of older building that's worth cherishing.

[Osa Rey]

I know some folk have knocked the Birchin, but it looks nice enough, and certainly better than some buildings in the neighbourhood...

Pall Mall House will hopefully likewise be a good renovation/development, but that small area could do with more work. If they redveloped the multistorey on Church Street into something more socially acceptable than a trash can for dead metal (rant over), and turned the other carpark into a square, then the town centre could be pulled up all the way to Turner Street. But at now it seems just a dead gap (but for the fruitsellers).

I dare say it would cost a great deal to do, but the Arndale gets a pointless facelift and tummytuck for how much? When I'm God of Manchester...

[SleepyOne]

Couldn't agree more with what you say there Osa Rey.

Yes parking spaces are needed but buildings like the Church St MSCP which utterly destroy the urban fabric of the area, like a dark, ugly cancerous lump in the heart of the NQ. Its very strange that within the city council's Northern Quarter regeneration framework this building above all others is not marked out as having any kind of detrimental effect on the area or is in need of improvement.

With the Arndale car park and the new Shudehill car park I don't see why residents could not be offered contract parking within one of these and this valuable piece of land redeveloped as underground parking, a nice square and some small scale mixed use buildings more in keeping with the district. Whether this figures would stack up is another matter though! Connectivity of the city centre is not helped by having the Arndale centre dumped in the middle of the retail core with its entrances off-set from adjoining streets and its blank, lifeless facades. Its being improved of course but I dont think the redevelopment will vastly improve pedestrian flow through and around that part of the city. Doing away with the Church Street NCP will so dramatically improve the ambiance of NQ and as you say, help drag the retail core, proper up to at least Oldham Street.

[dgnr8]

I don't mean to be a bellend here, but I have to say I've always felt the NQ car park as managed alright. The market stalls dotted around it add life and fresh veg so we can't really argue with them. Of course some lovely A1 double-height retail would be nice, but the wee fruit and veg stalls etc add to the life around there. The way the carpark is set back from the pavement allows these chaps tadequate space to trade, so I wouldn't be calling for demolishment of the carpark just yet. It's rank in almost every sense, but it's form gives something to the area. If it were to be redeveloped into some fancy dan office block fair do's (I realise the postrophe shouldn't be there but 'dos' looks gay), but it should keep the floorplate it already hads. Those wee market stalls are very much part of the character of the NQ AND THEIR ALLOTMENTS SHOULDN'T BE WITHDRAWN.

[dgnr8]

Ugh, my keyboard's a piece of shit. I'm drunk also, fantastically so, with which I believe you should allow me some drunken license.

[Latic]

A quick walkabout round the NQ....

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010136.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010140.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010145.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010148.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010146.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010143.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c119/Latic12/P1010142.jpg

[jrb]

Icon 25+CIS+Skyline Central.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture152.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture151.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture154.jpg

[highriser]

Looking forward to seeing what is planned for the space between Skyline Central and Icon25, this side of the city is really gathering pace now development wise,and streching the city centre northwards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/Picture154.jpg[/QUOTE]

[SleepyOne]

Small piece on Northern Quarter venue, Band On The Wall.


Band On Wall revival get new support

Soul star Mica Paris and composer Julian Joseph are leading the campaign to revive Manchester music venue Band On The Wall which closed a year ago.

Both stars have agreed to be honorary patrons of the £5.5m project to create an enlarged Band On The Wall which will have education and training facilities.

Mica is a huge fan of the Northern Quarter venue naming it as her "favourite part of Manchester".


And composer and broadcaster Julian says "It has been vital to the bloodstream of the music scene in Manchester and all of Britain. This kind of venue is one we must fight to preserve if we value the talent that exists in British and International music.

Band On The Wall project director Ian Croal says "It is great news that Mica and Julian are so enthusiastically endorsing our project. They are hugely respected performers who also have a deep sense of their wider role as musicians in supporting the development of talent.

Mica and Julian join trumpeter Kevin Davy and DJ Mr Scruff in backing the project along with Manchester MP Tony Lloys and leader of Manchester City Council Richard Leese.

The venue which has hosted the likes of Gabrielle, Courtney Pine and Annie Lennox closed last January due to the deteriorating condition of the property.

[rolybling]

bloody crying shame, this venue really does need to be salvaged

[Northbeach]

Looks like our very favourite NQ NCP car park is to make an appearance on Life on Mars this evening (according to the clips - alongside other Northern Quarter scenes).
Looked bad in 1973 never mind 2006...but it's a TV star now and they may require if for series 2 :(

[highriser]

Does anyone know what's happening to the 60's building on the junction of Hilton St and Oldham St,the with the Vynal Revival shop on the ground floor,,its getting covered in scaffolding?

[caw123]

NQ streetscapes
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030019copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030021copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030022copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030023copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030025copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030027copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030028copy.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1200013copy.jpg

[rolybling]

thanks for the pics Caw, still masses of untapped potential in the NQ

[bobthebuilder]

not to much potential in this quarter, me thinks youll have to make your own chances to pull this development off

[kids]

what development?

[Gavin]

One thing I hate about NQ is the amount fo tiny little roads like the one below.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030025copy.jpg
Double yellow on both sides and clearly hardly if ever used by cars. What we need to do is for all of these tiny bits of raod to be pedestrianised to improve the urban environemnt whilst still allowing cars etc.. to use the larger roads. If we are to continue the growth of NQ as possibly the best quarter in twon then this must happen.

[SleepyOne]

Thats a good point Gavin. I agree. Id put that high up my list of priorities for the Northern Quarter along with...

The banning of those oppressive all-steel roller shutters
The widdening of pavements along Dale Street to reduce speed of cars, making it more people friendly
The destruction of the Church Street multistorey :)
The pedestrianisation of the lower end of Oldham Street from Piccadilly up to the junction with Dale Street (removal of busses from the area would have to preceed this)

[rolybling]

not to much potential in this quarter, me thinks youll have to make your own chances to pull this development off

Clearly has no idea what he's talking about and little or no understanding of what the NQ actually is. Its not a development.. :bash:

[Legin]

Great pics Caw - really like that one of Newton Street.

[inquisitor57]

I always look at that carpark made from the inside of an old building (the one with the statue on) and wonder whether they demolished the building for the carpark or it fell down and they couldn't be arsed to finish the job...

[TheGrand]

[QUOTE=Gavin]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030025copy.jpg
QUOTE]


I know nobody agrees with me, but I love this picture, dont get me wrong I wouldnt walk down there after dark, but dirtyness sometimes can be good. Thats what Manchester's NQ shares with Paris and New York, think its shows character to a city.

The multi storey can go though

[highriser]

Your right mate i dont agree, flattened the lot .

[Northbeach]

I'm sure that pic was on last week's Life on Mars - some rozzer was done by a shooter if I remember correctly.
Did anyone catch last weeks Eleventh Hour? Stunning aerial shots of the city - really was something to behold.

[rolybling]

I know what TheGrand means though, the NQ does have a certain derelict charm in places.. like the cities he mentioned. Lets face it, part of NY's appeal is its gritty urban-ness. Once a lot of these building have new uses the NQ will be a gem of a place. I'd love it to be a real bohemian laid back funky part of town, its well on its way @the-mo

They still have to knock that bloody car park down on Church St and the one across the road next to Afflecks..get rid!!! Sort it out MCC

[Rigadon]

[QUOTE=Gavin]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030025copy.jpg
QUOTE]


I know nobody agrees with me, but I love this picture, dont get me wrong I wouldnt walk down there after dark, but dirtyness sometimes can be good. Thats what Manchester's NQ shares with Paris and New York, think its shows character to a city.

The multi storey can go though
I agree with you

[b4mmy]

NQ streetscapes
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P1030027copy.jpg


Someone. Please save this building. Please.

[rolybling]

Dont think its going anywhere bammy

[Northbeach]

In fact it has just been renovated/refurbed so I guess it's now awaiting tenants.
Dale Street is full of gems like this. A little nip and tuck and spring clean and we'll have them looking Victorian new. What a street though (can't be far off a mile long - Rambo's to 111 Piccadilly?).

[b4mmy]

Dont think its going anywhere bammy

Oh, good.

Could do with a bit of cleaning up on the ground floor then.

:)

[Farsight]

Nice building. A definite asset.

[highriser]

B4ammy,,that ground floor shop was used as the hairderesser's in the programme "Cutting It",,in the final espisode it had a controlled fire staged there,,since then its been renovated,i suppose there just after some tennents for the shops now

[9462]

if it were in salford they would have knocked it down by now.

[jrb]

077360/FO/2005/C1

103 High Street
Unit 6 Smithfield Phase 3 Land Bounded By High Street And Proposed New George Street
City

Elevational alterations at ground floor collonade to realign shopfront to face of building on High Street elevation to facilitate increase in size of ground floor commercial unit for use as an art gallery (Use Class D1)

[SleepyOne]

you just beat me to it jrb. I think this is one of the ground floor units to ICON 25.


http://www.investmentpropertyuk.com/images/8/1_lrg.jpg


http://www.investmentpropertyuk.com/images/8/2_lrg.jpg

Small but potentially significant planning application there.

This part of the Northern Quarter is noticably busier since the transport interchange opened.

[jrb]

you just beat me to it jrb. I think this is one of the ground floor units to ICON 25.


http://www.investmentpropertyuk.com/images/8/1_lrg.jpg


http://www.investmentpropertyuk.com/images/8/2_lrg.jpg

Small but potentially significant planning application there.

This part of the Northern Quarter is noticably busier since the transport interchange opened.

Another great addition to the NQ. We all love art galleries.

[GShutty]

Good news re this one guys: all of the ground floor commercial units have been sold! I'll do a bit of digging and find out what will sit next to the Art Gallery.

For those of you who don't know the scheme that well, the street at the back of the Market Buildings will be purely residential, with the Ground floor units having small gardens. High St., Shudehill and New George St will also house ground floor commercial space.

I look forward to the time when the area between Icon .25 and Skyline Central has all been developed.

[highriser]

New apartment building for the NQ,curtosiy of the NQ supremo GShutty :)

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/

[The Longford]

New apartment building for the NQ,curtosiy of the NQ supremo GShutty :)

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/

Awful!
Absolute rubbish - dont know how this got through. It at least makes the ncp carpark look good!

[rolybling]

check out the brochure

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/pdf/brochure.pdf

[Accura4Matalan]

I kinda like it. The blue makes a nice change.

[rolybling]

^^ thats what I thought, but not sure about that terracotta bit on the front

[SleepyOne]

Its an office block made to look like a late 90s apartment block what with all that layering and blue coloured render. That aside, good to see more office units going into N/4 adding to the rich mix of uses in the area.

[kids]

I like this, i like the way the building wraps around the town houses besides it. It's got some interesting shapes in its facade too.

[skymann]

I like this, i like the way the building wraps around the town houses besides it. It's got some interesting shapes in its facade too.

I agree with everything and overall think it will be an asset to the area. Onlt thingI don't like (but I know lots of people do) is the stainless steel cladding. I think plain white rendering where the cladding is would be more pleasing IMHO. Overall though, like it. Knock down that stupid NCP car park would help the area too.

[Farsight]

Seems to be a bit of a consensus developing here.

I like the blue. But that slab of terracotta tiles slapped on front looks really stupid. Why can't it just be its own bright self instead of "paying homage" to the building next door? And the roof looks wrong. It's like they've tried to add interest and got it wrong. Ooo, wince, that picture on the right looks like a bleedin' shipping container. I mean, that'll really help sell the penthouse. Not.

IMHO the terracotta tiles ought to be turquoise, and the roof and cladding round back should be the same. When I say turqoise I mean the colour of verdigris, wot you get with copper roofs like the Birchin building.

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/images/header_on.jpg

[rolybling]

^^ I agree but instead of turquoise I was thinking either the same blue or one slightly darker

[Farsight]

Sounds a whole lot better than orange and blue, roly!

[rolybling]

I like the building though, it looks different and to me thats what the NQ should be about, too much samey stuff all over city centres these days its good to see something different for a change

[Farsight]

Ditto. A rich tapestry is what I like.

[GShutty]

Margolis Building: 7 storeys, to replace one crap building and one okay building, called 'margolis'- hence the new name. Maybe one of you hi-tech wizz-kids, or just another user can grab an image. My simple cut and paste techniques and cheap Jedi mind tricks don't appear to be working on this particular Jabba.

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/

Location
The development is prominently located on the corner of Turner
Street, Back Turner Street and Kelvin Street in the creative Northern Quarter of Manchester city centre.
Piccadilly and Victoria railway stations and the Shudehill metro link are all within easy walking distance. The area is also well served by Manchester’s most exciting bars and restaurants, as well as all other amenities.
The region’s motorway network is easily accessible, with the M60, M56 and M602 all within a five-mile radius.
Contract car parking is available at Church Street car park directly
opposite, or Shudehill Interchange a short walk away.

Architecture
The development is a mixture of new build and grade II listed warehousing and cottages.
Award-winning Manchester architects Oconnell East have used this
combination to create inspiring workplaces for Manchester businesses.
Innovative design, coupled with a high specification, elevate this building from it’s surroundings.

Accommodation
The units can be combined to provide larger floor areas if required.
All units are completely self-contained on a mixture of 999 year lease and freehold for cottage units.

Contact
For more information and pricing contact joint agents:
Roger Hannah and co 0161 832 0020
Knight Frank 0161 833 0023
Subject to contract

[Farsight]

Click click, right click, stripe properties, controlC to copy, then paste here and surround with img and /img in square brackets:


http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/images/header_on.jpg

[The Longford]

This building is crass, ugly and totally unacceptable not only in its place in the NQ but also in relation to listed buildings.
The design language is confused to say the least, the pallette is incoherent, it would have looked dated 5 years ago never mind today and most importantly why have they forgot to remove the storage container on the roof?
This sets a very bad precedent for any other new builds in this part of the NQ and i am struggling to find what 'awards' the so called award winning architects have won (cycling proficiency test, 10yard breast stroke?)

[caw123]

Oh dear, that is a truly horrible building. It's even worse than the zinc-roofed crap between Piccadilly Place and the Fire Station, of which this seems a close relation.

[kids]

i like it, it's a mondrian

[kids]

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/mondrian_composition.jpg

[The Longford]

I dont know about Mondrian - more like Gilbert and George!
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f85/garybaldy/ziegesar6-9-7s.jpg
Gilbert and George
Bloody Shit House
1996

[RobertM]

Bloody Shit House

They wouldn't make very good estate agents, would they?

[kids]

I dont know about Mondrian - more like Gilbert and George!
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f85/garybaldy/ziegesar6-9-7s.jpg
Gilbert and George
Bloody Shit House
1996

rrrr

[SleepyOne]

I dont think its awful either. I just dislike how what is effectively a series of office units aimed at small business (which afterall is the lifeblood of N/4) has been dressed up to look like a late 90s apartment block. In of itself its not bad.

[Farsight]

Seen Brookfinch's latest offering? It's a one-bedroomed bungalow:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/l/636.jpg

[The Longford]

Seen Brookfinch's latest offering? It's a one-bedroomed bungalow:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/l/636.jpg

Surely thats an exclusive executive penthouse apartment just waiting to lifted into place?

[kids]

Seen Brookfinch's latest offering? It's a one-bedroomed bungalow:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/l/636.jpg

Funnily enough Farsight, i watched a program once about a developer that made apartment buildings entirley out of shipping containers, can't seem to find any info on them, though. - they looked nice enough.

[The Longford]

Funnily enough Farsight, i watched a program once about a developer that made apartment buildings entirley out of shipping containers, can't seem to find any info on them, though. - they looked nice enough.

Yes i saw that - it was on that programme presented by the posh, blonde lad - Charlie something or other.
Was the programme called 'Homes without walls' or some such thing?

[The Longford]

It was 'Not all houses are square' presented by Charlie Luxton and here are the houses:

http://www.shipping-container-housing.com/shipping-container-houses.html?gclid=CI22suXykYMCFUFMEgodpg_TOg

[kids]

Yes i saw that - it was on that programme presented by the posh, blonde lad - Charlie something or other.
Was the programme called 'Homes without walls' or some such thing?

i did this by accident

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4703304/

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040409/040409_house_trash_hmed1p.hmedium.jpg

the smaller ones can go up in 7 hours too!

http://www.containercity.com/CCthe_build.htm

[SleepyOne]

only on the Manchester forum could such an insignificant proposal (in the scheme of things) create such a tangent in the discussion, so much heat and so much passion! Love it. :)

[The Longford]

I prefer the container thing to that piece of shit in NQ. All the trustafarians in Hulme would love it. If you stack 42 on top of each other does it count as a 'scraper?

[Richmond_Michael]

no those container houses were used in a programe like grand designes or something similer, some guy bought a plot of land and built one just like that, I like them personally, and i could definatly see something wierd and wacky like that in the northern quarter. BUT HOPEFULLY JUST THE 1.

[Farsight]

I prefer the container thing to that piece of shit in NQ. All the trustafarians in Hulme would love it. If you stack 42 on top of each other does it count as a 'scraper? No. It would count as the CJC building.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040409/040409_house_trash_hmed1p.hmedium.jpg

:)

[GShutty]

Looking at this propsal/images of, it looks as though the building behind has been done up and that a similar scale & style building has gone onto Back Turner St. Would be great if that little st was developed.

I think it looks good. Very sympathetic to the adjacent car park :runaway:

[highriser]

Just noticed this in the Manc applications,,this this is the next phase of the Icon25 development,,,this part of the city is starting to motor now


078284/FO/2006/C1 24/01/2006 Corner Of Shudehill/ Swan Street City Construction of Crowne Plaza standard hotel with 228 bedrooms and associated restaurants, meeting ro... Application Pending Consideration

[jrb]

Just noticed this in the Manc applications,,this this is the next phase of the Icon25 development,,,this part of the city is starting to motor now


078284/FO/2006/C1 24/01/2006 Corner Of Shudehill/ Swan Street City Construction of Crowne Plaza standard hotel with 228 bedrooms and associated restaurants, meeting ro... Application Pending Consideration


Just noticed that my self H!

You posted that news last year aswell. :)

highriserJune 20th, 2005, 09:34 PM
This hotel reported in today's MEN, would this replace the derelict building on the junction of Shudehill and Swan St ?


*A 230-bed four-star project on the Smithfield site of the bustling Northern Quarter area. Developer Ician has revealed it is having talks with the Inter-Continental Hotels Group.The group runs 19 hotels across the country under the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, including a Plaza hotel at Manchester Airport.

[highriser]

your on the ball jerb :)

But this is the application for it.

[rolybling]

is this that curved building on the corner of Swan St and Shudehill?

[caw123]

A few photos from the NQ

Never noticed this broom before
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P2170021copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P2170016copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P2170014copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P2170012copy.jpg

[Mez]

Thanks caw. Im really looking forward to when this area is at its full potential. Lets pedestrianise Oldham st!!!

[GShutty]

The marvelous Jewel House is about to see the introduction of it's first commercial tenant since it's refurbishment- something that will really enhance the building further still, as 70/80's external shutters that blight the area are replaced with glass. A liquor license has been applied for, for a bar called 'TV21'. Any clues anybody? I got this off the net:

TV21
A fairly minor Scottish band with mod tendencies;
(or)
TV21 comic
The classic Gerry Anderson comic from the 1960s.

It's a hunch, but I reckon this will add to the eclectic mix of indy bars that makes this (IMHO) Manchester's best night out. :cheers:

[jrb]

Another addition to the NQ.(MOL version below scanned article)

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ContentResources/434.$plit/C_17_Articles_205195_BodyWeb_Detail_0_Image.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/jrb041067/goatq.jpg

Margolis covers the shortage

MANCHESTER property developers Martin Brook and Garry Finch are to launch their first city centre scheme.

Brook and Finch, who together formed developers Brookfinch, are to build a 19,000 sq ft office scheme in the Northern Quarter aimed at companies who want to own their own premises.

Brookfinch has been developing for 15 years but until now has concentrated on residential conversions in South Manchester such as York Road in Chorlton and Upper Chorlton Road.

The £4.5m Margolis Building is on the corner of Turner Street, Back Turner Street and Kelvin Street

The Margolis Building located in the Northern Quarter will have up to 19 individual units and all are for sale - potentially easing the shortage of small office units available to purchase in the city centre.

Designed by award-winning Manchester architect O'Connell East, the building comes with a style guarantee of no strip lighting, no carpet tiles and no false ceilings.

Garry Finch of Brookfinch Developments said: "There is now much wider national and international recognition of the unique qualities of the Northern Quarter. This district is seen as a fundamental part of a growing global city and we believe Margolis Building to be a landmark development in the city."

Daniel Bourmad, associate at agents Knight Frank, said: "This concept is the missing link in the city marketplace, where there is a real lack of office units available to buy for small occupiers.

"That element of design and the location will combine to make Margolis Building ideal for professional practises."

The complex, which is part Grade II listed conversion and part new build, is split into two - the commercial units including duplexes and three freehold cottages. Some ground floor units are available and two offices have their own private terrace.

Knight Frank is joint agent at Margolis Building with Roger Hannah.

[Farsight]

Designed by award-winning Manchester architect O'Connell East... There was an interesting bit of chitchat about this a week or so back, jrb. IMHO most people seemed to like the blue, but thought the terracotta "homage" was a bit naff, and the shipping container on top was totally ultra stupid. So: Award winning architect my arse, my granny could do better, and she's been dead twenty years, blah blah...

:lol:

[Sir Miles Platting]

Be fair farsight, that horizontal slit-window at the top of the quarry-ti...erm (cough) I mean terra-cotta is quite....er...creative....

I think....

[Sir Miles Platting]

Not to mention what looks like the worlds first street-level......

.......yes...you guessed it.... balcony!!!!

[Farsight]

There's things about this that I quite like Miles. I do like the blue, and overall the building has got a neat crispness to it. OK, I'm not keen on the terracotta, and I'm not sure the metal on top is done quite right. Fair enough, it's an imperfect world. But then I look at the picture on the right, the word "shipping container" pops into my head, and out comes the granny stuff.

http://www.brookfinch.co.uk/images/header_on.jpg

[jrb]

There was an interesting bit of chitchat about this a week or so back, jrb. IMHO most people seemed to like the blue, but thought the terracotta "homage" was a bit naff, and the shipping container on top was totally ultra stupid. So: Award winning architect my arse, my granny could do better, and she's been dead twenty years, blah blah...

:lol:

If the MEN say there 'award winning architects', it must be true Farsight? ;)

[The Longford]

Re. O'Connell East. As far as i can find out these jokers dont even have a website never mind awards!

[caw123]

Some Nthrn Qurtr photos
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010035copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010033copy.jpg

From the new Shudehill carpark
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010022copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010020copy.jpg

A bloody gorgeous snowy Kinder Scout, or maybe Bleaklow. God knows.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010005copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010010copy.jpg

[The Longford]

Do like the grey and white pallete of that new building on Shudehill.
Believe it or not and contrary to popular belief i'm not a "heritage nimby" and have fell out with some real "heritage nimbys" about having a variety of pallettes for buildings throughout the city. I hate red brick on anything bigger than a house and would much rather see lots of different brick stocks used.
That is one fine looking building IMO.
oh btw the artic monkeys are over rated!

[Accura4Matalan]

Yeah, crap band!

[Farsight]

I like it Longford. It's the recesses that do it for me. They make the walls look thick, and give the building a real solidness. It would look pretty crap if it was just a flat brick box. I like the colour variation too, though colourwise it's maybe a little drab.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/caw1234/P3010020copy.jpg

[The Longford]

I hate to mention this but havent we seen this brick stock somewhere before? :ohno:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f85/garybaldy/gran2.jpg

[b4mmy]

I hate to mention this but havent we seen this brick stock somewhere before?

Friend of yours Longshanks?
;)

[Farsight]

Staffordshire Blue, Longford.

http://www.ketley-brick.co.uk/engineeringbricks_0.htm

http://www.bricksandbrass.co.uk/deselem/extwall/bricks.htm

[The Longford]

Ah - our family originally comes Staffordshire so its obviously genetic!

[Jerv]

They must be tall athletic and hung like a cart-horse.

*looks out over the staffordshire fields that gave shelter to generations of jervs before him*

[The Longford]

Friend of yours Longshanks?
;)

Its ages since i saw this scheme - who did do it,anyone know? Like the way it curves round the corner in 30's Moderne stylee.

Hey Jervs - you really from Staffs? I come from the Rheads of Stoke (famous ceramic design family) - have you heard of us?

[SleepyOne]

Its ages since i saw this scheme - who did do it,anyone know? Like the way it curves round the corner in 30's Moderne stylee.

I think its MBLC. I could look at their buildings all day. There isn't anything they've done that I dont like. Great modern, urban buildings. Really looking forward to their new block in Ancoats (which I believe they will also occupy).

http://www.marketingmanchester.com/news/images/uploaded/lost_and_found/194.205.3.243-2006-02-14-15-42-52.670.jpg