Arndale Centres were the first "American style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total, Arndale Property Trust built 23 Arndale Centres in the United Kingdom, and three in Australia. The first opened in Jarrow, County Durham, in 1961, as a pedestrianised shopping area.
In 1950, Arnold Hagenbach, a baker with a talent for property investment, and Sam Chippendale, an estate agent from Otley, set up a company called the Arndale Property Trust, the name being a portmanteau of "Arnold" and "Chippendale". [1]
Prior to developing a string of large shopping centres, Arndale initially started to build new stretches of high streets as canopied shopping parades in a variety of small towns across the North of England as well as suburban centres. These early developments introduced large format shop units to post-war town centres in need of regeneration that suited the growth of growing businesses such as Woolworths and Marks and Spencer. Developments were often in conjunction with local councils to deliver new infrastructure such as roads or markets.
The trust purchased Bradford's Victorian Swan Arcade in 1954, with the intention of demolishing it and developing a new shopping centre, but it took eight years before leases expired and building work could commence, so in the meantime it developed a site in Jarrow, County Durham, which became the first Arndale Centre when it opened in 1961. Its trademark Viking statue, built by the Trust, was unveiled on 17 February 1962.
Arndale's first office was in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and moved to offices in Bradford in 1964 in the then-new Arndale House
When the Wandsworth Arndale opened in 1971, it was the largest indoor shopping space in Europe. [2]
The largest Arndale Centre built was Manchester Arndale. It was redeveloped from 1996, after being badly damaged in an IRA bombing, and the centre has been owned by Prudential since December 1998. [3]
Arndale Centres attracted criticism on aesthetic grounds as they replaced old buildings – often of the Victorian period – with modern concrete constructions, often in a brutalist style.
"There are people today amassing stupendous fortunes by systematically destroying our historic centres," wrote architectural writer James Lees-Milne, in 1964. "Eventually, all the buildings of the area – good, bad and indifferent – are replaced with chain stores, supermarkets and blocks of flats devoid of all distinction, and all looking alike."
The value of the Wandsworth Arndale was maximised by the high rise tower blocks built on top of the mall, which helped it to become, according to some commentators, "one of London’s great architectural disasters". [2]
The phrase "the Arndale Centre wasn't built in a day" (in place of "Rome wasn't built in a day") was used in the film Little Voice . A sketch in an episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie about greetings cards with very specific tailored messages inside features a card with the greeting "Sorry to hear your teeth fell out in the Arndale Centre". Numerous other references to Arndale Centres exist in the show.
In an episode of The Royle Family , Nana is said to have a "spin out" outside Timpson's Shoe Shop (now closed) in the Stretford Arndale or precinct as it is known locally. British band Squeeze referenced the mall in the song "It's Not Cricket", from their 1979 album, Cool for Cats , with the lyrics: "at the Arndale Centre, she's up against the wall." [9]
On his track the N. W. R. A. on The Fall's 1980 album Grotesque (After the Gramme) , Manchester singer Mark E. Smith described the destruction of the Arndale as part of an apocalyptic 'future rising' of the North.
TV showed Sam Chippendale
Had no conception of what he'd made;
The Arndale had been razed,
Shop staff knocked off their ladders,
Security guards hung from moving escalators.— The Fall, The N. W. R. A., on Grotesque (After the Gramme)
In the first Christmas special episode of The Worst Week of My Life , "The Worst Christmas of my Life", Howard refers to visiting Santa's Grotto at the Arndale Centre. In series four, episode four "It's Only Rock and Roll" of Only Fools And Horses , an Arndale Centre is mentioned, but it is not specific as to whether it is the Wandsworth or Dartford centre that is being referred to.
Characters in the television series Coronation Street occasionally reference going shopping in the Manchester Arndale Centre, the television series being set in Greater Manchester.
In the 2015 advert for Warburtons giant crumpets, the Muppets sing "it's time to hit the Arndale / to get some bigger plates". [10]
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The Leeds Supertram was a proposed light rail/tram system in Leeds and West Yorkshire in England. It would have been a three-line, 17-mile (27 km) system with 50 stations. It received provisional government approval in 2001, and was specifically for corridors ill-served by the existing heavy rail network. Supertram would have been 75% funded from the public sector, with final contracts for construction and a 27-year operating concession due to have been awarded in 2003. By 2004, disquiet about rising costs had caused the scheme to be scaled back, and it was finally cancelled in 2005 by the Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling.
Southside Wandsworth is a shopping centre in the district of Wandsworth in London, England. When it was built it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe and is currently the fifth largest indoor shopping centre in London after Westfield Stratford City, Westfield London, the Whitgift Centre and Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
Moor Grange Estate is a housing estate in the West Park area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which was built in the 1950s on reclaimed farmland. Work on the Moor Grange Estate began in 1955. It was originally owned by the local council, and was leased by the council to tenants as a council estate. Most of the housing on the estate is now privately owned. Moor Grange does not suffer the crime problems of other council estates. House prices on the estate are high, and Moor Grange is considered a 'model council estate'. This may be due to the affluence of the area in which it is situated. Moor Grange backs onto the smaller Spen Estate which is another council estate in West Park. The Estate falls within the Kirkstall ward of the Leeds Metropolitan Council.
Manchester Arndale is a large shopping centre in Manchester, England. It was constructed in phases between 1972 and 1979, at a cost of £100 million. Manchester Arndale is the largest of the chain of Arndale Centres built across the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. It was redeveloped after the 1996 Manchester bombing.
Burley is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Leeds city centre, between the A65 Kirkstall Road at the south and Headingley at the north, in the Kirkstall ward.
Armada Arndale is a shopping centre located in the suburb of Kilkenny in South Australia and is managed by Armada Funds Management. It used to be managed by Vicinity Centres and Westfield. The facility is located at the intersection of main arterial roads, Torrens, Hanson and Regency roads. There are approximately 95 retailers including Harris Scarfe, Big W, Woolworths, Romeos Foodland, Aldi, and Hoyts Cinema with over 2000 parking spaces.
The A660 is a major road in the Leeds and Bradford districts of West Yorkshire, England that runs from Leeds city centre to Burley-in-Wharfedale where it meets the A65. The A660 is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long, and crosses the watershed from Airedale to lower Wharfedale. For most of its length the road is in the metropolitan district of the City of Leeds; the last 0.4 miles (0.6 km) is in City of Bradford district.
In the United Kingdom, an out-of-town shopping centre is an enclosed shopping centre located outside of a town centre. The impact of out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom is studied in the context of urban planning, town centre redevelopment, the retail industry and even public health and gender divides. Due to its significance for these issues, it has been included in the school exam curriculum in geography. There are only about sixteen out-of-town enclosed shopping centres in the United Kingdom. Under current policy, no more will be built. All other British shopping centres are in town and city centres.
Luton Point is in the centre of Luton, in Bedfordshire, England. It was formerly an Arndale Centre, until it was purchased by Capital & Regional in January 2006. It was temporarily called The Mall Arndale, but was later referred to as The Mall Luton, although local people still refer to it as "The Arndale". It has been renamed Luton Point in 2024.
The Swan Arcade was a four-storey building located between Market Street and Broadway, Bradford, England and stood opposite the Wool Exchange. The Bradford Beck ran beneath.
The architecture of Leeds, a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, encompasses a wide range of architectural styles and notable buildings. As with most northern industrial centres, much of Leeds' prominent architecture is of the Victorian era. However, the City of Leeds also contains buildings from as early as the Middle Ages such as Kirkstall Abbey, one of Britain's best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries, as well as examples of 20th century industrial architecture, particularly in the districts of Hunslet and Holbeck.
Corporation Street is a major thoroughfare in Manchester city centre, England. It runs from Dantzic Street to the junction of Cross Street and Market Street. Major buildings located on or adjacent to the street include the Arndale Centre, Exchange Square, The Printworks, Urbis and New Century House next to the CIS Tower.
The Oastler Shopping Centre, formerly known as the John Street Market and commonly known as just the "Oastler Centre" to locals, is a market located on Westgate in the city centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
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