Please leave a comment - courteous please! - and I'll do my best to reply - normally in the first 24 hours. Hopefully I haven't made any mistakes, but if I have, please tell me!
I'm 64 now, the change is brilliant! I remember as a little kid thinking, why not re_ build it tall? Manchester got carpet bombed in the war and it's never recovered. Until now!
Yes, absolutely. I thought the same. It was badly bombed, the new tall buildings appeared on the bomb sites. As a child I loved the CIS building, Sunley Tower (renamed City Tower), St Andrew's House (Portland Tower), Rodwell House (111 Piccadilly) but the skyscraper boom of the early 60s didn't last. It restarted only 4 decades later on completion of the Beetham Hilton Tower. Many thanks!
We've just discovered your videos and they're a delight to watch. We are avid fans of architecture and love seeing the changes in Manchester our home City. Keep up the good work 😊
That’s great, I’m very happy to hear that! Manchester is changing every day! I will just do what I can to try to keep up with it, also Liverpool. Many, many thanks!
As a Stretford lad moved south, im staggered how much has changed so soon.... Are there plans to build tall buildings around areas of the city, you might get to see a new Man Utd stadium in the next 3 years...... I'm curious, Manchester has become the number two city out side London, so it seems, it must be generating loads of money. ive noticed the towers are now much taller than Beetham Tower. and i used to live in lostock, Circle court and i used to see the skyline from there. Keep up the great work, i'll follow and see how it grows :)
Many thanks and sorry for the long time it's taken for me to reply. I've heard there are plans for the Old Trafford Stadium. There's a plan for a tall building in Stockport. I think others will appear further out from the centre. As for Manchester being the number two city, I think that because Birmingham has the HS2 connection to London, that will give the city a very big boost. I don't like to think in terms of 'second city'.
Thanks very much indeed for the positive feedback and yes, a lot of time and effort went into that video, especially the visuaiisations of Lee House and the proposed tall tower behind Sunlight House. Your positive feedback gives me great encouragement to do lots more videos.
I really like the visualisation of Memorial Tower you did at 5:52. The four buildings in a row at 5:28 - No. 1 Spinningfields, Sunlight House, 196 Deansgate, and the red brick and terracotta building in the foreground make a pleasing contrast with each building beautifully representing an era. Also like how colourful the scene is - red brick, brown stone, white stone, and blue-green glass. Thank you for introducing us to Sunlight House. I love art deco, it's a shame the period didn't last longer so we could have more buildings in that style.
Many thanks - yes, the combination of different sytles and colours on that corner is great, but in general Manchester has a mixture of styles and eras. Sunlight House is the most striking building in an art deco style, also Rylands, former Debenhams is very nice too. Art deco was an expression of 1920s exuberance and exoticism but it killed off by the middle of the following decade. Thanks, that visualisation took quite a bit of work in Photoshop!
your videos are always a joy to see in my subscriptions page. I just love seeing how the city used to be (ive only been here for two years) and finding out what all the (so many) construction sites i see walking around are. Thanks for making such enjoyable and genuinely historically significant videos : )
Wow, that is a very nice comment that deserves to be my 'Comment of the Week'. You have certainly made my day. I am doing something right, but only thanks to the feedback I get and the stats provided by UA-cam. Many many thanks!
Thank you for recording the progress of Manchester. I'd not been into Manchester for about three years when I had to drop someone off near Piccadilly Station one evening and went in through Ancoats. I was completely disoriented because of all the new builds along there. Pretty impressive.
Yes, it certainly is, but you just have to adapt to the new reality. I don't think we want to go back to the urban dereliction of much of Manchester I remember from the 1980s.
Hi Aiden another top video. It's been in the news over the past couple of days there will be a new stadium for Manchester United. Might be interesting to keep an eye on.
Thanks for that - Just had a look, and I understand it's just an idea at the moment. I get a lot of ideas and 'tipoffs' in the comments. Many thanks for the positive feedback.
Another great video, thanks for the update! The question that always nags me about these new buildings is, why do SimpsonHaugh seem to have such a monopoly? Are there no other architects in Manchester, and wouldn't our new skyline benefit from a bit more variety than the templated SH designs?
I remember when I was a kid and the newest building on Crown Street was a securior depot and offices next door to Gaskell and Chambers and the Mancunian way crossing at the bottom, how much everything has changed in those years
Yes, it's true, that area has changed. And I remember an old warehouse next to the River Medlock that was demolished. I took a photo but can't find it! There will be more changes!
Thanks for the positive feedback. That's interesting, I don't have a Manchester accent, just slightly northern - like Tony Wilson. Maybe my contact with the Liverpool region has had an influence!
Cotton Quay another 500 footer planned. Much more widely though, plans are afoot. Can't say more. One change that has nothing to do with skyscrapers but that will really fill in missing links is the Holt Town masterplan coming, Ardwick transformation, and then attention really will have to turn to transport by the 2030's. A larger scheme is demanded and expected (tunnelling where necessary) but Oxford Road is one area without even a tram that is in desperate need of rail connection. East-west is served well, north south central area is not. There are a couple of new stations that will be transformative (one a tram and the other on the existing urban rail services) toward Salford Quays. Once rail comes under Manchester control by 2030, a lot more plans can open up. Really in transition right now. Manchester's wider metropolitan area will be over 6 million by then. It will start to become a serious place at this point instead of just a regional city. It will be a European business centre and a European hub for leisure led leisure and entertainment at Trafford with what's coming as well as what is already there.
Many thanks for all the information, a glimpse into the future, 'European', sounds great. I don't think there will ever be a tram along Oxford Road but I hope I'm wrong!
No plans for anything along Oxford Road unfortunately. It's a real barrier to further expansion east and west at the southern end. Regards European - interest from European capital flows but little in the other direction from us or others. The data we've got puts the Euro and Germany in a real mess going forward, in fact all of Europe except France and the Scandinavian countries. What we now see is a sudden pick up in Euro capital flows into German banks which is alarming. Why? A hedge, that if the Euro goes down, Germany reverts to the Deutschmark and the value of that capital rockets, as the Euro keeps Germany's costs artificially low but like a coiled spring, will bounce back once that lid on real cost is removed. France prices everything now in Francs as well as Euros. This is not the sign of a confident market. No reporting on it, all going under journalists' radars. No-one wants a panic, but then I doubt many journalists would know the meaning of such moves. Watch March & April - US regional banks collapse, but they'll be pumped up by $2 trillion money printing, bond yields will rise 6-10% for US debt as the world loses confidence in the dollar so want higher returns for buying its debt. Gold and commodities will skyrocket through the year, then...crash. Remember you hear it here ;-) Real estate is our focus too of course. The capital flowing into Manchester right now is coming from the USA and several countries in the Far East that are hedging future returns against their collapsing countries (notably Japan, South Korea, ex-pat Chinese capital via Singapore). Manchester is becoming a price-point attractive destination for them with future returns in sterling that will be worth a lot to them. Manchester offers growth without London premium but still within the most attractive business regulatory environment. They are investing now - I know this is hard to believe, but within 20 years S.Korea and Japan will cease to function and major cuts to everything will be required simply to exist. Japan's population declining faster than expected. They are losing 1.1 million Japanese a year, propped up by 500,000 immigrants a year, still a net 600,000 loss. Meanwhile, China is collapsing in real time with 100m people not existing that were previously counted. They would have been under 40 today. These are just mind-blowing stats hitting the real world, and the money that can leave, has left and is being invested. Manchester is proving an indirect capital flow destination for a lot of that money. USA is investing in Manchester in tech sectors and wider residential real estate (notably BTR) and also see future Manchester as an attractive, stable, long-term proposition in the wider European market context. Anyway, sorry to digress, but that's what's going on behind the scenes. The issues are being called now and the above will bubble to the surface overt the coming weeks, months and year end. @@AidanEyewitness
Fantastic video, It's interesting that you mentioned Singapore, having just come back last month it was humbling to say the least when I arrived back in Manchester!
I heard an amazing description of Singapore on German radio, it sounds like an amazing place, in a different league to Manchester. Many thanks for the positive feedback!
@@AidanEyewitness The architect of the Marina Bay Sands said it best when referencing the development in Singapore. “You can’t think of it as individual buildings, you have to think about it as a piece of city. It’s much more of a symphony than it is a sonata.” I feel like that quote perfectly encapsulates the approach to city planning over there. Everything works together so beautifully.
@@KuroiGW2I expect that it's much easier to plan projects with groups of buildings in places like Singapore or Dubai than it is in Manchester. A very interesting perspective. Many thanks.
@@AidanEyewitness would you do one over the new apartment blocks going up soon around Rodney street and Poland street Ancoats and the new community transport hub there also.
Fantastic video, sir. Keep up the great work, and it's great to see you getting more well-deserved recognition for your efforts. I'm sure it won't be too long now until you reach your next milestone of 5,000 subscribers!
By my calculation, I'll reach 4000 on or around the 31st of May. So hopefully 5000 later in the year. With UA-cam for most people it's just a waiting game: keep on producing videos on your core theme that people like, watch the stats. Be patient, the audience will build up. Many thanks for your comments!
Thanks - The videos take quite a few hours to produce between videoing, researching and editing, but it's a great feeling when they go online and I get positive feedback. It makes my day!
That's very interesting, I'm glad to see someone working in that sector is looking at my videos. My main focus is the design of the buildings and how they fit into and transform the city.
Apologies to people who would like to see a Liverpool video. Previously I tried to keep to a strict parity - one Man, one Liv, one Man, one Liv etc but as there is so much construction going on in Manchester, I need to try to keep up with. I get lots of views, it's good to grow the channel. The next video will be from Liverpool.
Well many buildings are having new cladding put on, at great expense, due to 'increased risk of fire'. Maybe in the future buildings will be re-clad 'due to increased risk of boredom!'. I could ask the people at SimpsonHaugh but as a humble UA-camr, I don't get interviews with architects!
Great Video. It’s quite incredible the change since I moved to Manchester in 2027! The change in the years between 2014-2018 was astounding!! It’s no wonder the traffic’s so bad! 😂
Yes, many thanks. I got caught in a midnight traffic jam in Manchester city centre a few weeks ago. They were coming out of the Arena after a concert, I think!
Hi Aiden, you have missed the most important area! Piccadilly East, New Islington, Freight Island and Ancoats Marina. The new glass Castlefield area is so bland and windy
I've already visited New Islington in a previous video. The theme was tallest towers so I've chosen a few. I'll keep those places in mind for future videos. Many thanks.
Im a bit sad picardy skyscrapers wasnt build as that area in Manchester look lovely the same with the northen quarter building part of appeal is its low rise skyrise
It's pretty clear that developers/architects over-exaggerate the height of their plans initially, because they know it will be tempered down to the height they actually want it by NIMBYs.
That's a question we can only answer when his flagship project St Michal's on the former Bootle St police station is completed. I'll keep this question in mind, many thanks.
Can’t say I’m a fan of the towers once you get past the novelty of the height, they are just boxes in the sky. Sunlight House is leagues ahead in architecture
Sunlight House is great building, one of my favourites, but no architects of today would design a building in that style, which reflects the styles of the 1920s. Today's towers reflect current technology, though the design actually go back to a modernist style which also originates in the 1920s. Many thanks.
Three60 is really a good addition to the Crown Street district. While I think all the towers are attractive, they look a bit too similar. Hopefully the fill in will include more interesting shapes. Technology and engineering these days allow for much more interesting designs than the modernist rectangles that have been built between the WWII and now.
You've touched on a burning issue there. People have noticed that the designs are not very varied. I was looking at tall buildings in Milan and they are much more varied. I would like to do a video from Milan - and taste the pizza there! Manchester has a significent Italian influence.
@@AidanEyewitness even in London there is too much sameness in the skyscrapers going up. There are some notable exceptions. I love Herzog de Meuron's One Park Drive, 52 Lime Street "The Scalpel", and, of course, the now ancient "Gherkin".
Thanks I’ve checked them out: One Park Drive is cool, shaped like a cylinder 205m high. The Scalpel next to the Gherkin - I was there on a visit last year bus was focusing more on the Gherkin. The Scalpel is 190 metres. The newest proposed towers in Manchester are heading over 200m. Many thanks for all your comments!
As a child I learned that Blackpool Tower is 518 feet (158 metres) tall, so I compare all tall buildings to it. So the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 5.24 Blackpool Towers tall!. I assum you're about 1/516th the height of the tower! :)
It’s impressive so much investment in Manchester is happening, are so many big tower buildings necessary? Great to see modern student accommodation being built, if the life support amenities are right it could be great. It looks far better than the depressed faded terraced housing of the past, much easier to provide services to these tower blocks, I hope the architects vision is coordinated not just random disorganised development without need, beauty not pointless waste🫰.✌️❤️🇬🇧
A very good question. But just as in Manhattan, the skyscrapers are a lot taller than in Manchester, so are the prices. I'm not sure about the current prices and rents in Manchester, that's something I need to look into. Many thanks for the positive feedback!
A terrific insight into modern day planning. The question I’ve always wondered is ….. who is actually living in all of these buildings!? It surely can’t be all students. Any news on the magnificent Hotspur press buildings?
I think it's surprising just how many people come forward to take up residence in these buildings. At Deansgate Square I noticed many residents are wealthy Chinese people. I'm not sure what's happening with the Hotspur press buildings - at least they are still there! They need to be renovated!
That is a project I have mentioned in a previous video. It's called Vision Manchester. The site is small but the project is big! visionmanchester.com/ Many thanks!
No matter how expensive the apartments, there seem to be unlimited people who have the money to rent or buy them. They have done their market research. They wouldn't build them if they thought they couldn't fill them!
I don’t understand why cities like Birmingham and Manchester use the same architecture firms to build all there projects. I love the development but all the projects look similar and there isn’t much diversity in the architecture itself. It’s all tall rectangles. Even though these firms design cool skyscrapers for London eg SimpsonHaugh build one Blackfriars in London, they still design boring skyscrapers for Manchester. The power district buildings all look the same. Is there something I’m missing?
I once went to a presentation where architect Ian Simpson explained why his Beetham Tower in Manchester is such a simple design - he said budget and time available were limited. By contrast, the new apartment buildings by Battersea Power Station are like giant works of art with a complex design. Budgets in London are many times greater than further north.
All great stuff but the city isn't looking very clean, rotting leaves, weeds... council not bothering to sweep roads ? Where is all the extra coucil tax revenue from all of these towers going ? Its not going on basic street cleaning thats for sure.
Yes, central Manchester still looks untidy with rubbish on the streets. It's not like that in Chorlton though and other suburbs. I think the problem untidy streets is as much a problem of careless people as the council failing to do enough! Many thanks for your comment.
There are actually quite a lot of ornate buildings in Manchester, the town hall - under renovation - the John Rylands Library, Manchester University John Owen Building and others.
@@sglenny001 I know what you mean, but today's architects do not build in a traditional style. The only building in a classic style of architecture to be built in recent years is the Trafford Centre.
@@AidanEyewitness and tbh the Trafford Centre I've only been once I called it the Cartadel of Commerce have you been to Sheffield because I think you find it interesting
Between north of the thames st pancras train station BIG ROOF ...and newcastle upon Tyne train station BIG ROOF MASSIVE ...there are very few places with land suitable for building ...due to geology in soil fondation underpinning and wind gale hurricane ..We have a lot to be grateful about that we nothing about Durham cathedral has a small train station and lincoln cathedral has a small train station ... old elwell spade is better than all other spades ..potato farmers plant in june ,,i thought it was due to august rain but I WAS WRONG but they were RRIGHT wild cats will eat oat porridge
Its so British to quibble about floor 34 and 33… meanwhile the rest of the world is doing floor 80… how did these people rule the world. Just build cool stuff and you will be future proofed
I don't think the ones quibbling about the floors in Manchester are the same ones that built the British Empire. Their descendants are in London. Manchester has no height restrictions on the outer edge. This is a conservation area, the Northern Quarter, that's why there were questions about the height. Many thanks for your comment.
@AidanEyewitness Manchester was a hub of the empire. It's the northerners who mined all the coal that built the British industry. Manchester was the centre of British manufacturing that served the world. These people are the people who created the empire
@@AidanEyewitness and i suppose in London they do build to 80 floors. But still British people need to stop thinking so small if they want Britain to be apart of the 21st century
It’s a shame the new taller buildings don’t follow a more traditional art deco or stone design. The glass towers and cladded blocks aren’t particularly inspiring or impressive whereas Sunlight House looks brilliant
Art deco and stone were used in the 1930s, for example the Chrysler and Empire State buildings and in Manchester Sunlight House, Rylands (former Debenhams), Northcliffe House (demolished), Ship Canal House, Arkwright House and others. Today's architects just don't use stone or art deco details. In the 80s there was Post Modernism, which had art deco features but it went out of fashion. Thanks.
You must be much better than me at maths, as I would find it hard to multiply 187.5 metres by 3.3 whilst watching a video. I tried using only metres but people complained. I use both metres and feet as I like both systems and I'm catering to my audience. It helps people to visualise them better when they hear both together. Many thanks for your comment.
Well you did ask for an opinion....All the areas you touch upon in the video were or had been left to rot since the 1960s 70's, 50 years of Grot, the Dunlop building, beautiful Georgian Edwardian houses, crumbling old railway warehouses dark and dimly light streets were lady's of the night walked, the gay community parted and socialized, The local authority cared little for local opinion then as now. The CIS tower was the sky scrapper the Arndale tower, the latter not the the best building another mistake unlike the CIS or New century House, I am glad I'm 3 bed semi garden front side and rear with adjoining Allotment in the M34 area. I will be 59 in July so I do not have much more than 25 years to endure of the planning mistakes of The Manchester Planners, I am not at all keen, No I dislike the vision they have created or care not a jot, but they will just carry on with these soulless buildings that lead to communities that have no cohesion. I did enjoy the post and appreciate the time it takes to produce a piece of professional work like it. Thankyou.
That’s absolutely right. In the fifties abd sixties the new towers were built on bomb sites. Nowadays they are built on long abandoned former industrial sites, often serving as car parks. But some derelict buildings can be given a new lease of life.
@@AidanEyewitness I remember Sunlight House and just staring counting the floors the other building you mention i remember but forgot the name just looking spotting something new everytime I looked up wonderful. I have subscibed so I can when I have time enjoy the other post
Sorry, I didn’t see all of your comment. That was a very vivid description of Manchester in the past. Many thanks for subscribing and for sharing your thoughts.
How very disappointing. I had to laugh when you said one went from 33 to 32 stories and the council approved it Where will they park and go to the doctors and dentists in these eyesores. I was watching that thinking which streets getting ruined next
One Port Street is being built on a former car park, like many of the new towers. Health services usually start to appear once there are a good number of new residents. I'm not sure how the Planning Committee justify their decisions, I hope to research that. Thanks for your comment.
Many of them are designed by the same architectural practice. As far as I understand it, the developers appoint the architects, the architects design the building, which is then submitted to Manchester City Council for planning permission. I'm not sure if 'too boring' is a good enough reason for permission to be refused, but maybe it should be!
This is absolutely wrong. I am expressing my own opinions and my view is independent. I am often critical of aspects of projects. I invite people to give their opinions in the comments. What exactly do you mean by using the word 'excrescence'? Please explain yourself.
Skyscrapers in a city awash with wide areas of desolate land and real estate smacks of vanity projects. What does Manchester need so much rental space for? I'm guessing a lot it will remain empty.
From what I've seen, all these residential buildings are fully occupied very quickly. The desolate land is outside the city, but people want to live at the heart of the city and are prepared to pay for it. It's all about economics, I think. Many thanks for your comment.
@yewitnessAre you sure these skyscrapers are residential? I have problems believing that there are that many "residents" with enough money in the Manchester area wanting to live in such buildings. Usually people with money end up in leafy suburbs in bungalows sporting front and back gardens hidden behind high hedgerows.
The proposed Crown Street District YUCK ! Monolithic monotonous and all very square .Horrendous . It need a bit of Modernity a touch of Zaha Hadid .IT looks like a utopian dream from the 70s .
All great stuff but the city isn't looking very clean, rotting leaves, weeds... council not bothering to sweep roads ? Where is all the extra coucil tax revenue from all of these towers going ? Its not going on basic street cleaning thats for sure.
Please leave a comment - courteous please! - and I'll do my best to reply - normally in the first 24 hours. Hopefully I haven't made any mistakes, but if I have, please tell me!
I'm 64 now, the change is brilliant! I remember as a little kid thinking, why not re_ build it tall? Manchester got carpet bombed in the war and it's never recovered. Until now!
Yes, absolutely. I thought the same. It was badly bombed, the new tall buildings appeared on the bomb sites. As a child I loved the CIS building, Sunley Tower (renamed City Tower), St Andrew's House (Portland Tower), Rodwell House (111 Piccadilly) but the skyscraper boom of the early 60s didn't last. It restarted only 4 decades later on completion of the Beetham Hilton Tower. Many thanks!
We've just discovered your videos and they're a delight to watch. We are avid fans of architecture and love seeing the changes in Manchester our home City. Keep up the good work 😊
That’s great, I’m very happy to hear that! Manchester is changing every day! I will just do what I can to try to keep up with it, also Liverpool. Many, many thanks!
Great work once again Aidan! 😄👍🏻
Thanks and the drone footage adds a lot to the video.
Great video, i do hope Manchester keeps building upwards and don't start getting cold feet over tall buildings.
Thanks for your comment. I would very much doubt it! Manchester has crossed the Rubicon of tall building construction and there's no going back!
As a Stretford lad moved south, im staggered how much has changed so soon.... Are there plans to build tall buildings around areas of the city, you might get to see a new Man Utd stadium in the next 3 years...... I'm curious, Manchester has become the number two city out side London, so it seems, it must be generating loads of money. ive noticed the towers are now much taller than Beetham Tower. and i used to live in lostock, Circle court and i used to see the skyline from there. Keep up the great work, i'll follow and see how it grows :)
Many thanks and sorry for the long time it's taken for me to reply. I've heard there are plans for the Old Trafford Stadium. There's a plan for a tall building in Stockport. I think others will appear further out from the centre. As for Manchester being the number two city, I think that because Birmingham has the HS2 connection to London, that will give the city a very big boost. I don't like to think in terms of 'second city'.
Quite a sea change. I generally don't like sky scrapers, but Manchester is doing a good job.
Thanks - I have a fascination with skyscrapers. The ones in Manchester are impressive but much shorter than those in Hong Kong or New York.
Always enjoy your videos, Sir! Thank you for all your hard work.
Thanks very much indeed for the positive feedback and yes, a lot of time and effort went into that video, especially the visuaiisations of Lee House and the proposed tall tower behind Sunlight House. Your positive feedback gives me great encouragement to do lots more videos.
Brilliant video as always
Ah, you've made my day!😀
I really like the visualisation of Memorial Tower you did at 5:52. The four buildings in a row at 5:28 - No. 1 Spinningfields, Sunlight House, 196 Deansgate, and the red brick and terracotta building in the foreground make a pleasing contrast with each building beautifully representing an era. Also like how colourful the scene is - red brick, brown stone, white stone, and blue-green glass. Thank you for introducing us to Sunlight House. I love art deco, it's a shame the period didn't last longer so we could have more buildings in that style.
Many thanks - yes, the combination of different sytles and colours on that corner is great, but in general Manchester has a mixture of styles and eras. Sunlight House is the most striking building in an art deco style, also Rylands, former Debenhams is very nice too. Art deco was an expression of 1920s exuberance and exoticism but it killed off by the middle of the following decade. Thanks, that visualisation took quite a bit of work in Photoshop!
your videos are always a joy to see in my subscriptions page.
I just love seeing how the city used to be (ive only been here for two years) and finding out what all the (so many) construction sites i see walking around are.
Thanks for making such enjoyable and genuinely historically significant videos : )
Wow, that is a very nice comment that deserves to be my 'Comment of the Week'. You have certainly made my day. I am doing something right, but only thanks to the feedback I get and the stats provided by UA-cam. Many many thanks!
Thank you for recording the progress of Manchester. I'd not been into Manchester for about three years when I had to drop someone off near Piccadilly Station one evening and went in through Ancoats. I was completely disoriented because of all the new builds along there. Pretty impressive.
Yes, it certainly is, but you just have to adapt to the new reality. I don't think we want to go back to the urban dereliction of much of Manchester I remember from the 1980s.
Hi Aiden another top video. It's been in the news over the past couple of days there will be a new stadium for Manchester United. Might be interesting to keep an eye on.
Thanks for that - Just had a look, and I understand it's just an idea at the moment. I get a lot of ideas and 'tipoffs' in the comments. Many thanks for the positive feedback.
great video and update :)
Many thanks for your positive feedback!
Another great video, thanks for the update!
The question that always nags me about these new buildings is, why do SimpsonHaugh seem to have such a monopoly? Are there no other architects in Manchester, and wouldn't our new skyline benefit from a bit more variety than the templated SH designs?
Ha ha, that is a very good question, to which I don't have a definitive answer - at the moment! Many thanks for your positive feedback!
I remember when I was a kid and the newest building on Crown Street was a securior depot and offices next door to Gaskell and Chambers and the Mancunian way crossing at the bottom, how much everything has changed in those years
Yes, it's true, that area has changed. And I remember an old warehouse next to the River Medlock that was demolished. I took a photo but can't find it! There will be more changes!
The future crown street district reminds me of canary wharf in London
That is a very good point, I'd not thought of that. All the buildings are kind of crowded together and of a similar height.
Love your content! You have quite a calming voice too 😂 Is it a Wirral/Wool accent I detect?
Thanks for the positive feedback. That's interesting, I don't have a Manchester accent, just slightly northern - like Tony Wilson. Maybe my contact with the Liverpool region has had an influence!
Cotton Quay another 500 footer planned. Much more widely though, plans are afoot. Can't say more. One change that has nothing to do with skyscrapers but that will really fill in missing links is the Holt Town masterplan coming, Ardwick transformation, and then attention really will have to turn to transport by the 2030's. A larger scheme is demanded and expected (tunnelling where necessary) but Oxford Road is one area without even a tram that is in desperate need of rail connection. East-west is served well, north south central area is not. There are a couple of new stations that will be transformative (one a tram and the other on the existing urban rail services) toward Salford Quays. Once rail comes under Manchester control by 2030, a lot more plans can open up. Really in transition right now. Manchester's wider metropolitan area will be over 6 million by then. It will start to become a serious place at this point instead of just a regional city. It will be a European business centre and a European hub for leisure led leisure and entertainment at Trafford with what's coming as well as what is already there.
Many thanks for all the information, a glimpse into the future, 'European', sounds great. I don't think there will ever be a tram along Oxford Road but I hope I'm wrong!
No plans for anything along Oxford Road unfortunately. It's a real barrier to further expansion east and west at the southern end. Regards European - interest from European capital flows but little in the other direction from us or others. The data we've got puts the Euro and Germany in a real mess going forward, in fact all of Europe except France and the Scandinavian countries. What we now see is a sudden pick up in Euro capital flows into German banks which is alarming. Why? A hedge, that if the Euro goes down, Germany reverts to the Deutschmark and the value of that capital rockets, as the Euro keeps Germany's costs artificially low but like a coiled spring, will bounce back once that lid on real cost is removed. France prices everything now in Francs as well as Euros. This is not the sign of a confident market. No reporting on it, all going under journalists' radars. No-one wants a panic, but then I doubt many journalists would know the meaning of such moves. Watch March & April - US regional banks collapse, but they'll be pumped up by $2 trillion money printing, bond yields will rise 6-10% for US debt as the world loses confidence in the dollar so want higher returns for buying its debt. Gold and commodities will skyrocket through the year, then...crash. Remember you hear it here ;-) Real estate is our focus too of course.
The capital flowing into Manchester right now is coming from the USA and several countries in the Far East that are hedging future returns against their collapsing countries (notably Japan, South Korea, ex-pat Chinese capital via Singapore). Manchester is becoming a price-point attractive destination for them with future returns in sterling that will be worth a lot to them. Manchester offers growth without London premium but still within the most attractive business regulatory environment. They are investing now - I know this is hard to believe, but within 20 years S.Korea and Japan will cease to function and major cuts to everything will be required simply to exist. Japan's population declining faster than expected. They are losing 1.1 million Japanese a year, propped up by 500,000 immigrants a year, still a net 600,000 loss. Meanwhile, China is collapsing in real time with 100m people not existing that were previously counted. They would have been under 40 today. These are just mind-blowing stats hitting the real world, and the money that can leave, has left and is being invested. Manchester is proving an indirect capital flow destination for a lot of that money. USA is investing in Manchester in tech sectors and wider residential real estate (notably BTR) and also see future Manchester as an attractive, stable, long-term proposition in the wider European market context. Anyway, sorry to digress, but that's what's going on behind the scenes. The issues are being called now and the above will bubble to the surface overt the coming weeks, months and year end. @@AidanEyewitness
Fantastic video, It's interesting that you mentioned Singapore, having just come back last month it was humbling to say the least when I arrived back in Manchester!
I heard an amazing description of Singapore on German radio, it sounds like an amazing place, in a different league to Manchester. Many thanks for the positive feedback!
@@AidanEyewitness
The architect of the Marina Bay Sands said it best when referencing the development in Singapore.
“You can’t think of it as individual buildings, you have to think about it as a piece of city. It’s much more of a symphony than it is a sonata.”
I feel like that quote perfectly encapsulates the approach to city planning over there. Everything works together so beautifully.
@@KuroiGW2I expect that it's much easier to plan projects with groups of buildings in places like Singapore or Dubai than it is in Manchester. A very interesting perspective. Many thanks.
Great video, love the care for old and new and the delivery.
Many thanks for your positive feedback. I am interested in both the old and the new!
@@AidanEyewitness would you do one over the new apartment blocks going up soon around Rodney street and Poland street Ancoats and the new community transport hub there also.
@@steveygee1 Many thanks, I'll keep those in mind. Ancoats in general would make a very good subject for a video.
Fantastic video, sir. Keep up the great work, and it's great to see you getting more well-deserved recognition for your efforts. I'm sure it won't be too long now until you reach your next milestone of 5,000 subscribers!
By my calculation, I'll reach 4000 on or around the 31st of May. So hopefully 5000 later in the year. With UA-cam for most people it's just a waiting game: keep on producing videos on your core theme that people like, watch the stats. Be patient, the audience will build up. Many thanks for your comments!
Thank you Aiden for always keeping us updates. Best wishes always :)
Thanks - The videos take quite a few hours to produce between videoing, researching and editing, but it's a great feeling when they go online and I get positive feedback. It makes my day!
Fantastic video, I’m moving into a new career in a few weeks in the property sector working with new developments like these! Really eye opening
That's very interesting, I'm glad to see someone working in that sector is looking at my videos. My main focus is the design of the buildings and how they fit into and transform the city.
Do a video on Liverpool please
Apologies to people who would like to see a Liverpool video. Previously I tried to keep to a strict parity - one Man, one Liv, one Man, one Liv etc but as there is so much construction going on in Manchester, I need to try to keep up with. I get lots of views, it's good to grow the channel. The next video will be from Liverpool.
A very interesting thought provoking video. Well done again😅
Thanks very much for your kind support, as ever. It makes my day to receive comments like yours!
Why oh why does SimpsonHaugh persist with the checkerboard glass cladding????? It’s beyond tedious!
Well many buildings are having new cladding put on, at great expense, due to 'increased risk of fire'. Maybe in the future buildings will be re-clad 'due to increased risk of boredom!'. I could ask the people at SimpsonHaugh but as a humble UA-camr, I don't get interviews with architects!
Great Video.
It’s quite incredible the change since I moved to Manchester in 2027!
The change in the years between 2014-2018 was astounding!!
It’s no wonder the traffic’s so bad! 😂
Yes, many thanks. I got caught in a midnight traffic jam in Manchester city centre a few weeks ago. They were coming out of the Arena after a concert, I think!
Hi Aiden, you have missed the most important area! Piccadilly East, New Islington, Freight Island and Ancoats Marina. The new glass Castlefield area is so bland and windy
I've already visited New Islington in a previous video. The theme was tallest towers so I've chosen a few. I'll keep those places in mind for future videos. Many thanks.
@AidanEyewitness ah cool ill take a look. Great videos!!
Im a bit sad picardy skyscrapers wasnt build as that area in Manchester look lovely the same with the northen quarter building part of appeal is its low rise skyrise
Yes, the low skyline is part of the Northern Quarter's identity but tall buildings are appearing around it.
@@AidanEyewitness I call a hidden gem even though its obvious
Another Great Video Aiden!!
As a humble UA-camr (as Geoff Marshall said of himself), I try my best!
It's pretty clear that developers/architects over-exaggerate the height of their plans initially, because they know it will be tempered down to the height they actually want it by NIMBYs.
You should make a video on the subject of whether or not Gary Neville has been a force for good apropos the Manchester property market.
That's a question we can only answer when his flagship project St Michal's on the former Bootle St police station is completed. I'll keep this question in mind, many thanks.
Birmingham is going Skyscraper crazy too.
I plan to visit Birmingham later in the year. I love the city centre. Interested to see the construction sites!
Can’t say I’m a fan of the towers once you get past the novelty of the height, they are just boxes in the sky. Sunlight House is leagues ahead in architecture
Sunlight House is great building, one of my favourites, but no architects of today would design a building in that style, which reflects the styles of the 1920s. Today's towers reflect current technology, though the design actually go back to a modernist style which also originates in the 1920s. Many thanks.
Three60 is really a good addition to the Crown Street district. While I think all the towers are attractive, they look a bit too similar. Hopefully the fill in will include more interesting shapes. Technology and engineering these days allow for much more interesting designs than the modernist rectangles that have been built between the WWII and now.
You've touched on a burning issue there. People have noticed that the designs are not very varied. I was looking at tall buildings in Milan and they are much more varied. I would like to do a video from Milan - and taste the pizza there! Manchester has a significent Italian influence.
@@AidanEyewitness even in London there is too much sameness in the skyscrapers going up. There are some notable exceptions. I love Herzog de Meuron's One Park Drive, 52 Lime Street "The Scalpel", and, of course, the now ancient "Gherkin".
Thanks I’ve checked them out: One Park Drive is cool, shaped like a cylinder 205m high. The Scalpel next to the Gherkin - I was there on a visit last year bus was focusing more on the Gherkin. The Scalpel is 190 metres. The newest proposed towers in Manchester are heading over 200m. Many thanks for all your comments!
Most of the buildings are similar, I think W residences should be more luxurious
Yes, but maybe new buildings yet to be built will look better. Many thanks
It seems a bit petty refusing a 34 story building but then passing it because it's now a 33 story building,
Yes, but I think it's all very bureaucratic. Make a small concession as a nod to regulations, box ticked, planning permission granted.
"Local residents were not happy with..." generally means it's the right thing to do.
Great video Aiden. I'm new to the channel and, unfortunately, considerably shorter than your go-to metric, Blackpool Tower.
As a child I learned that Blackpool Tower is 518 feet (158 metres) tall, so I compare all tall buildings to it. So the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 5.24 Blackpool Towers tall!. I assum you're about 1/516th the height of the tower! :)
I’m 5’8” - you’ll have to do the maths..!
@@richardgriffiths6823 I think that’s beyond my mathematical capabilities! 😀
It’s impressive so much investment in Manchester is happening, are so many big tower buildings necessary? Great to see modern student accommodation being built, if the life support amenities are right it could be great. It looks far better than the depressed faded terraced housing of the past, much easier to provide services to these tower blocks, I hope the architects vision is coordinated not just random disorganised development without need, beauty not pointless waste🫰.✌️❤️🇬🇧
Many thanks, all good points. I think tall buildings make the developers more money as you can put more people onto the site.
Nice video, do you think that one day central Manchester will become expensive to live in like New York where a studio flat is worth millions?
A very good question. But just as in Manhattan, the skyscrapers are a lot taller than in Manchester, so are the prices. I'm not sure about the current prices and rents in Manchester, that's something I need to look into. Many thanks for the positive feedback!
Great vlog Aiden
Thanks very much. Glad it still comes across as a vlog though I prefer to stay behind the camera most of the time!
A terrific insight into modern day planning. The question I’ve always wondered is ….. who is actually living in all of these buildings!? It surely can’t be all students.
Any news on the magnificent Hotspur press buildings?
I think it's surprising just how many people come forward to take up residence in these buildings. At Deansgate Square I noticed many residents are wealthy Chinese people. I'm not sure what's happening with the Hotspur press buildings - at least they are still there! They need to be renovated!
Do you happen to know what is being built right next to the deansgate pub and the metrolink station? Theres hardly any room there!
That is a project I have mentioned in a previous video. It's called Vision Manchester. The site is small but the project is big! visionmanchester.com/ Many thanks!
What will the brick clad boxes look like in 50 years…??
Keep watching AidanEyewitness!
And who will they fill them with? Half of employees work from home, and renting them to live in will cost an arm and a leg.
No matter how expensive the apartments, there seem to be unlimited people who have the money to rent or buy them. They have done their market research. They wouldn't build them if they thought they couldn't fill them!
I don’t understand why cities like Birmingham and Manchester use the same architecture firms to build all there projects. I love the development but all the projects look similar and there isn’t much diversity in the architecture itself. It’s all tall rectangles. Even though these firms design cool skyscrapers for London eg SimpsonHaugh build one Blackfriars in London, they still design boring skyscrapers for Manchester.
The power district buildings all look the same.
Is there something I’m missing?
I once went to a presentation where architect Ian Simpson explained why his Beetham Tower in Manchester is such a simple design - he said budget and time available were limited. By contrast, the new apartment buildings by Battersea Power Station are like giant works of art with a complex design. Budgets in London are many times greater than further north.
Where can we buy murch Aidan?
I'm in the process of setting that up! Many thanks for your enquiry.
What's the score with the Gamecock Public House in Hulme?
Students encroached that far?
I have no idea. I just read this excellent article on the MEN. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/no-smackheads-5am-lock-ins-27021271.amp
All great stuff but the city isn't looking very clean, rotting leaves, weeds... council not bothering to sweep roads ? Where is all the extra coucil tax revenue from all of these towers going ? Its not going on basic street cleaning thats for sure.
Yes, central Manchester still looks untidy with rubbish on the streets. It's not like that in Chorlton though and other suburbs. I think the problem untidy streets is as much a problem of careless people as the council failing to do enough! Many thanks for your comment.
Altough i like Manchester people its a very American city i would love to see more ornate buildings
There are actually quite a lot of ornate buildings in Manchester, the town hall - under renovation - the John Rylands Library, Manchester University John Owen Building and others.
@@AidanEyewitness I know I love them I just wish there was more Modern one
@@sglenny001 I know what you mean, but today's architects do not build in a traditional style. The only building in a classic style of architecture to be built in recent years is the Trafford Centre.
@@AidanEyewitness and tbh the Trafford Centre I've only been once I called it the Cartadel of Commerce have you been to Sheffield because I think you find it interesting
@@sglenny001 I intend to go to Sheffield and do a video there. Hopefully soon.
Between north of the thames st pancras train station BIG ROOF ...and newcastle upon Tyne train station BIG ROOF MASSIVE ...there are very few places with land suitable for building ...due to geology in soil fondation underpinning and wind gale hurricane ..We have a lot to be grateful about that we nothing about Durham cathedral has a small train station and lincoln cathedral has a small train station ... old elwell spade is better than all other spades ..potato farmers plant in june ,,i thought it was due to august rain but I WAS WRONG but they were RRIGHT wild cats will eat oat porridge
Thank you for your comment!
Its so British to quibble about floor 34 and 33… meanwhile the rest of the world is doing floor 80… how did these people rule the world. Just build cool stuff and you will be future proofed
I don't think the ones quibbling about the floors in Manchester are the same ones that built the British Empire. Their descendants are in London. Manchester has no height restrictions on the outer edge. This is a conservation area, the Northern Quarter, that's why there were questions about the height. Many thanks for your comment.
@AidanEyewitness Manchester was a hub of the empire. It's the northerners who mined all the coal that built the British industry. Manchester was the centre of British manufacturing that served the world. These people are the people who created the empire
@@lostgleammediaThat’s absolutely true but the ones who ruled were the southern English-based aristocracy and to an extent that’s also true today.
@@AidanEyewitness and i suppose in London they do build to 80 floors. But still British people need to stop thinking so small if they want Britain to be apart of the 21st century
How sweet to live, when Manchester is becoming a metropolis of my dream right in front of my eyes!
Great comment, many thanks!
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It’s a shame the new taller buildings don’t follow a more traditional art deco or stone design. The glass towers and cladded blocks aren’t particularly inspiring or impressive whereas Sunlight House looks brilliant
Art deco and stone were used in the 1930s, for example the Chrysler and Empire State buildings and in Manchester Sunlight House, Rylands (former Debenhams), Northcliffe House (demolished), Ship Canal House, Arkwright House and others. Today's architects just don't use stone or art deco details. In the 80s there was Post Modernism, which had art deco features but it went out of fashion. Thanks.
choose meters or feet; everybody can multiply by 3.3
You must be much better than me at maths, as I would find it hard to multiply 187.5 metres by 3.3 whilst watching a video. I tried using only metres but people complained. I use both metres and feet as I like both systems and I'm catering to my audience. It helps people to visualise them better when they hear both together. Many thanks for your comment.
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽👌👌🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Many thanks
Well you did ask for an opinion....All the areas you touch upon in the video were or had been left to rot since the 1960s 70's, 50 years of Grot, the Dunlop building, beautiful Georgian Edwardian houses, crumbling old railway warehouses dark and dimly light streets were lady's of the night walked, the gay community parted and socialized, The local authority cared little for local opinion then as now. The CIS tower was the sky scrapper the Arndale tower, the latter not the the best building another mistake unlike the CIS or New century House, I am glad I'm 3 bed semi garden front side and rear with adjoining Allotment in the M34 area. I will be 59 in July so I do not have much more than 25 years to endure of the planning mistakes of The Manchester Planners, I am not at all keen, No I dislike the vision they have created or care not a jot, but they will just carry on with these soulless buildings that lead to communities that have no cohesion.
I did enjoy the post and appreciate the time it takes to produce a piece of professional work like it. Thankyou.
That’s absolutely right. In the fifties abd sixties the new towers were built on bomb sites. Nowadays they are built on long abandoned former industrial sites, often serving as car parks. But some derelict buildings can be given a new lease of life.
@@AidanEyewitness I remember Sunlight House and just staring counting the floors the other building you mention i remember but forgot the name just looking spotting something new everytime I looked up wonderful. I have subscibed so I can when I have time enjoy the other post
Sorry, I didn’t see all of your comment. That was a very vivid description of Manchester in the past. Many thanks for subscribing and for sharing your thoughts.
How very disappointing.
I had to laugh when you said one went from 33 to 32 stories and the council approved it
Where will they park and go to the doctors and dentists in these eyesores. I was watching that thinking which streets getting ruined next
One Port Street is being built on a former car park, like many of the new towers. Health services usually start to appear once there are a good number of new residents. I'm not sure how the Planning Committee justify their decisions, I hope to research that. Thanks for your comment.
Massive changes in Manchester all for the better from when I first came to Manchester following united
The construction boom is unprecedented, but I'm not sure if everything is for the better. Many thanks for your comment.
All these skyscrapers look the same, very boring designs! Not sure what Manchester council are thinking tbh.
Many of them are designed by the same architectural practice. As far as I understand it, the developers appoint the architects, the architects design the building, which is then submitted to Manchester City Council for planning permission. I'm not sure if 'too boring' is a good enough reason for permission to be refused, but maybe it should be!
🧐 Project "The bee honeycomb model of the conglomerates"Will Solve the Problem of urbanization and save finance 🐝. Archimedes XXI century 😇.
This is not a direct comment on the content of my video. I will need to decide what to do wtih this comment.
the smart rental only city is almost complete. all that remains is to clear out the slums of home ownership.
Many thanks for your comment.
Great bit of PR for the developers of these excrescences
This is absolutely wrong. I am expressing my own opinions and my view is independent. I am often critical of aspects of projects. I invite people to give their opinions in the comments. What exactly do you mean by using the word 'excrescence'? Please explain yourself.
Somebody believes Manchester has a bright future.
God bless Manchester!
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for your comment. I'm not sure if it has.
@@AidanEyewitness I share your scepticism. It is difficult to find an economic analysis that is optimistic about the post-Brexit dream palace.
Skyscrapers in a city awash with wide areas of desolate land and real estate smacks of vanity projects. What does Manchester need so much rental space for? I'm guessing a lot it will remain empty.
From what I've seen, all these residential buildings are fully occupied very quickly. The desolate land is outside the city, but people want to live at the heart of the city and are prepared to pay for it. It's all about economics, I think. Many thanks for your comment.
@yewitnessAre you sure these skyscrapers are residential? I have problems believing that there are that many "residents" with enough money in the Manchester area wanting to live in such buildings. Usually people with money end up in leafy suburbs in bungalows sporting front and back gardens hidden behind high hedgerows.
The brits always hesitent ....hence that besutiful art deco tower not built ...boreing brits .
But it was the 1940s, just after the war. That was then, but this is now!
The proposed Crown Street District YUCK ! Monolithic monotonous and all very square .Horrendous . It need a bit of Modernity a touch of Zaha Hadid .IT looks like a utopian dream from the 70s .
I don't think Manchester can afford Zaha Hadid's practice! I think Manchester has to work within the resources available to it.
All great stuff but the city isn't looking very clean, rotting leaves, weeds... council not bothering to sweep roads ? Where is all the extra coucil tax revenue from all of these towers going ? Its not going on basic street cleaning thats for sure.
I think this was posted twice!