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MILL BUILDINGS ON CAMBRIDGE STREET, are being converted into luxury apartments

The architects have lovingly retained the original features of the warehouse, including interior cast-iron fittings, wooden floors and of course the chimney, one of the few to survive in the city centre.

A 101 bus operated by Stagecoach passes on its way to Wythenshawe, 10 miles (17km) to the south.

 

THE BUILDING WHICH USED TO HOUSE the Hacienda night club was demolished in 2001. The facade of the ajoining Roundhouse, on the left of the picture, has been retained. The whole complex is to become an upmarket apartment complex.

The apartment on the top floor will have panoramic views over Whitworth St West and the Deansgate to Oxford Road railway viaduct, and will probably be sold for several million pounds.

The two lower pictures show the former Hacienda before and during demolition. Manchester's most famous night club opened in 1982 and finally closed its doors in 1997.

The Manchester Civic Society had suggested the site be turned into a museum, but Tony Wilson, founder of the Hacienda, argued passionately that it should not be retained.

PORTLAND STREET is undergoing major development at the Oxford Road end, with the addition of new buildings on sites which for years had been empty and used as car parks.

The photo on the left shows the view from the corner of Princess Street, the other two were taken with the camera placed on top of the pillar box about half way between Princess St and Oxford Road.

This building is going to be an Ibis hotel. There's no visualisaion on the exterior of what the building is going to look like, so we must wait and see.

THIS SITE ON THE CORNER of Oxford Street and Portland Street, next to the Odeon Cinema had lain empty for many years and was used as a car park.. The building next to it on Portland Street was in a run-down state, and the facade was dilapidated.

After many months covered by scaffolding, the new building - a hotel - was gradually unveiled in early 2001.

This is a key location in the city centre, a very busy corner used by people riding buses, driving cars and or walking into the city centre along Oxford Rd and turning right into Portland St. This site has a 'welcoming' function and is of key importance. Whatever stands there will have an effect on people as they arrive.

Eyewitness says: What a disappointment! The architect has obviously tried to make the building blend into its surroundings in terms of height and materials, but look at all that bare, unadorned brickwork. In other eras, buildings were ornamented at the front and kept plain at the rear. But today's clean and functional front facade often turns out less interesting than the 'utility' facades of yesteryear e.g. the side and rear of Barclay House (lower picture) built in the inter-war years. But while the view from outside is disappointing, I'm sure the view from one of those rooms will be superb, overlooking a key junction at the heart of the city centre. To stay at this Travel Inn will cost just under £50 a night.

THE CORNER OF OXFORD STREET and Chepstow Street is seen here looking from the corner of Portland Street. The old picture house on the corner is now occupied by a McDonalds restaurants. The smaller building next to it on the left is an amusement arcade.

A multi-storey car park appeared in 2000 on the site of the former Gaumont cinema (later 'Rotters' night club) which was demolished in the mid-1970's. Before the Gaumont, the Manchester Hippodrome stood here.

Further down Oxford St, to the left of the picture, is the former Tootals warehouse and on the very left, the new Whitworth West apartment complex under construction.

Eyewitness says: People complain about McDonalds, but here they have given a use to a building which might otherwise be empty. As for the car park, it has a clean and functional design which tries hard to please, but looks grossly out of place standing between a grand cotton warehouse and an 80 year old cinema, and opposite the sumptuous facade of St James' House,

Going by the principle of 'appropriacy of location', a multi-storey car park has a utilitarian function, and so should be located in a utilitarian location. Oxford Road is Manchester's 'grand entrance lobby' - putting a multi-storey car park here is like putting a microwave oven next to an antique chest of drawers. And they've done it before - a car park shaped like a giant fan heater now adorns London Road, Manchesters south eastern gateway

THIS BUILDING ON THE CORNER OF St Ann's Square, next to the Barton Arcade is an interesting and - in Manchester - rare example of external remodelling in a post-modern style.

An older building with a less than inspiring facade was transformed in the 1980's by the addition of new external cladding in a style which is modern but draws on traditional influences, i.e. post-modern.

And in early 2001, Manchester's 'EasyEverything' internet cafe opened on the ground floor - the 'easy orange' colour blends well into the existing colour scheme.

Eyewitness says: Light-hearted, contemporary-traditional and slightly wacky, this style appeals to me much more than the deadly serious, cool and functional, glass and steel 'airport' look which is taking over the new city centre.

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