I spent a second day in Manchester, being shown the city centre by Rachel Haugh, a partner of Simpson Haugh who have been responsible for many of the new developments in Manchester, beginning with the Atlas Bar which opened in 1996 in the Atlas Auto repair yard in Knott Mill and including the four residential blocks in Deansgate Square on the other side of the River Medlock.
We started in Mayfield Park, an area of urban regeneration close to Piccadilly:-
Then walked the streets.
I was impressed how much of the Victorian city has survived alongside the canals, even close to the centre:-
This is particularly true in Castlefields where the Bridgewater Canal takes off:-
Last stop was the bar of the Kimpton Hotel, originally the Refuge Assurance Building, designed by Waterhouse:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Interesting to see an outsider’s perspective – the centre was almost entirely Victorian when we moved away 13 years ago – now it’s full of shiny skyscrapers. The trend in the 80s and 90s was to convert the warehouses, not demolish them, spearheaded by the council (actually, partly my father in law), but now I believe it’s much cheaper to build new. I’m probably moving back to the area soon (from Brighton, then Brixton) so I wonder how I’ll find it when I spend more time there than a couple of city centre visits a year.
Jo Nightingale (Soane)
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It was hugely much better preserved than I had been led to expect and less full of shiny skyscrapers, mostly to the south and west. Charles
Yes, it’s still largely a Victorian city, but the towers are a big and very rapid change.
Best,
Jo.
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