The Northern Quarter

[highriser]

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.


ARIEL VIEW OF ICIAN DEVELOPMENT, NORTHERN QUARTER




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





Maghull renovation on Dale Street.

[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]

Originally Posted by ibswif

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. (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....