WAR ON CONCRETE
NEW QUARTER OF BARS AND RESTAURANTS TO REPLACE ‘AWFULLY UGLY’ TOWER BLOCK AND PLANS FINALLY PUT IN TO KNOCK DOWN THE PICCADILLY WALL
When it’s complete it will entirely change the whole atmosphere and attraction of the gardens Pat Karney
PLANS to FINALLY demolish the Piccadilly Gardens wall in a radical overhaul of the area have at last been submitted to the council.
The infamous eyesore - derided by Mancunians for years - is set to be bulldozed as part of a £10m redesign of the gardens.
More than six months after the M.E.N. submitted a petition - backed by 20,000 people - to town hall chiefs demanding a revamp of the area, an application to replace the wall with a brand new pavilion has now been tabled by owners Legal and General.
The designs, similar to initial blueprints we revealed last year, show a new wood, slate and glass structure on roughly the same footprint as the existing wall - this time with a curved, grassed roof.
New lighting and trees will be scattered throughout the gardens and the grassed area extended to where the ‘mini wall’ currently stands, with new shops and bars in the pavilion itself.
The planning application runs through various options for keeping the wall, but in each case concludes it would still look unattractive - particularly from the bus station side - and that maintenance and antisocial behaviour would remain.
It says the resulting design will be ‘iconic,’ enhancing the existing gardens, removing the dark covered walkway at the wall’s heart and opening up the building’s use to the public on both sides. The application follows two M.E.N. campaigns in recent years calling for the gardens to be upgraded, the wall to go and for anti-social behaviour to be stamped out. Our coverage led to a council meeting on the issue. Earlier this summer an improved grassed area was opened up after months of maintenance work, while the broken fountains were finally fixed and switched back on.
But city centre spokesman Pat Karney admitted the concrete wall a Japanese-designed pavilion of which council leader Sir Richard Leese remains a fan - should have been demolished long ago.
“This is the best news for Piccadilly Gardens since it was redesigned over a decade ago,” Coun Karney said.
“When it’s complete it will entirely change the whole atmosphere and attraction of the gardens and make Mancunians proud. In my opinion we wasted a whole decade on this ugly wall and should have taken action 10 years ago.
“We also insisted from the start that there should be no reduction in the grassed area - and in fact it is being extended.”
AN enormous, faded and ‘awfully ugly’ 1960s landmark in the heart of Manchester’s shopping district could be demolished - to make way for a brand new quarter of independent shops and bars.
The vast but dilapidated sevenstorey block on High Street, opposite the Arndale Centre, is one of the few remaining city centre buildings of its era not to have been redeveloped.
Around the corner from Market Street, the site is considered prime territory for new independent shops, stalls and bars, creating a new gateway into the Northern Quarter.
The block is owned by development giants Commercial Estates Group (CEG). They want to knock down and replace the building creating space for businesses, a ‘ground floor atrium’ and apartments.
The firm is holding a public consultation on the block’s future next week before drawing up firm plans.
Music venue Ruby Lounge, one of its most prominent tenants, said the club was safe in its current home ‘until 2020 at least’, but added they have now occupied an ‘awfully ugly building’ for ‘a very long time’.
“When and if we do move, it will be to significantly improved, larger and more flexible space just a couple of streets away,” they said on Twitter.
“Better access, daytime bar-food and get this - NO PILLAR in the middle of the dancefloor,” they added, referring to the most ‘commented on’ aspect of their venue.
Market-stall holders on Church Street, whose pitches are not owned by CEG, have also been invited to next week’s consultation.
The huge block is one of a few remaining examples of brutalist 1960s and 1970s architecture in the city centre not to have been knocked down or radically altered, others notably including the Arndale tower and its car park, and the Ramada hotel complex on Deansgate.
CEG says its High Street site is ‘constrained’, ‘dilapidated’ and ‘unappealing’ to businesses, arguing it would be ‘too difficult and unviable to adapt’.
Instead it wants to provide a new ‘family-friendly’ scheme with ‘inspiring and high-quality architecture’ and links through to Birchin Lane, the small street behind it.
David Hodgson, of CEG, stressed no decisions on the building’s future have yet been taken.
“The building is ageing, unattractive and unsuitable and as result is under occupied and unappealing to businesses as it does not meet today’s environmental standards. We are therefore looking at options for improving the building or redeveloping the site,” he said.
“No decisions have been made and the purpose of the consultation is to find out what people think about the existing development, its contribution to the local area and what they would like to see in the future.
“Should, following consultation, the redevelopment of the site be considered the most sustainable and beneficial long term solution, we would look at a high quality development which positively enhances the character of the area and contributes to the independent spirit of the Northern Quarter.
“We will continue to liaise with tenants and traders and look forward to discussing ideas with the community at the consultation event on site.”
The consultation takes place from 3pm to 8pm on Wednesday July 26 on the building’s first floor.