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Trafford Centre

Coordinates:53°28′06″N2°20′56″W/ 53.4684°N 2.3489°W/53.4684; -2.3489
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The Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre logo
Trafford Centre, with Trafford Palazzo to the top left
LocationDumplington,Trafford,Greater Manchester,England[1]
Opening date10 September 1998;26 years ago(1998-09-10)[2]
Previous namesIntu Trafford Centre[3]
DeveloperThe Peel Group[4]
ManagementSavills[5]
OwnerCanada Pension Plan Investment Board[6]
Architect
No. of stores and services200[1]
No. ofanchor tenants
Total retail floor area
  • Retail: 185,000 m2[10][1]
  • Leisure: 16,258 m2[10]
  • Dining: 13,935 m2[10]
  • Total:207,000 m2(2,230,000 sq ft)[10]
No. of floors3
Parking11,500[11]
Websitetraffordcentre.co.uk

TheTrafford Centreis a large indoorshopping centreand entertainment complex in Urmston,Greater Manchester,England. It opened in 1998 and isthird largest in the United Kingdomby retail space.[12][13]

Originally developed bythe Peel Group,the Trafford Centre was sold to Capital Shopping Centres, later to becomeIntu,in 2011 for £1.65 billion;[14]it set a record as the costliest single property sale in British history.[15]

The battle to obtainpermissionto build the centre was amongst the longest and most expensive in United Kingdom planning history.[4]As of 2011,the Trafford Centre had Europe's largestfood courtand the UK's busiestcinema.[1]

History

[edit]

Genesis

[edit]

The site was owned by theManchester Ship Canal CompanywhichJohn Whittaker's Peel Holdings had been acquiring shares in since 1971.[16]Manchester City Councilalso had a stake, but by the mid 1980s Whittaker had a majority control and proposed building an out-of-town shopping centre, and other schemes.[17]

The council faced a conflict of interest as both a local planning authority and shareholder. Itsminority shareholdingalso no longer gave it any real control over the company. Accordingly, in 1986 it surrendered the right to appoint all but one of the Manchester Ship Canal'sdirectors,and sold its shares to Whittaker for £10 million.[17]

Manchester City Council opposed Whittaker's proposal for retail development, stating it would impact negatively on thecity centreeconomy, but accepted it was "obviously in the interests of theshareholders".[17]

The Peel Groupsubmitted aplanning applicationtoTrafford Councilfor development of approximately 300 acres (120 ha) of land in 1986. The application wascalled inby theSecretary of State for the Environmentand legal disputes ensued requiring twopublic inquiriesbefore planning permission was granted. Objections included congestion fears on theM60 motorway,[18]and adverse consequences for retailers across Greater Manchester.[18]Planning permission was granted in 1993[19]before being blocked by theCourt of Appeal,[19]then reinstated in 1995 by theHouse of Lords.[20][21][22]

Twelve years after being proposed, the Trafford Centre opened on 10 September 1998. Construction had taken 27 months at a cost of £600 million.[23]TheBarton SquareandGreat Hallextensions opened in 2008, at a combined cost of over £100 million.[24]

Intu

[edit]

Peel Group sold the centre toCapital Shopping Centres(CSC) in January 2011 for £1.6 billion, in cash and shares,[25]andJohn Whittaker,chairman of Peel Group, became deputy chairman of CSC.[26]He later claimed he could have sold the centre for over £2 billion if he had been prepared to accept just cash.[27]Nevertheless the £1.6 billion deal remained the largest property transaction in British history,[15][28]and the biggest European property deal of 2011.[29]

Capital Shopping Centreswas renamedIntuin 2013 and spent £7 million rebranding the "Intu Trafford Centre".[30]

As of 2017,Intu claimed afair market valueof £2.312 billion for the centre.[31]However, the firm entered administration in June 2020 and the centre was placed intoreceivershipby its creditors in November 2020.[32]In 2020, theCanada Pension Plan Investment Board,who had loaned Intu £250 million in 2017, exercised their rights as creditors to take ownership of the complex.[6]

Post Intu

[edit]

Construction of theManchester Metrolink'sTrafford Park tram linebegan construction in January 2017. Test trams began in November 2019, and the line opened fromPomona tram stoptointu Trafford Centreon 22 March 2020.intu Trafford Centretram stop had to renamed toThe Trafford Centrein late 2020 afterintuceased ownership.

Building

[edit]
Inside the Trafford Centre
Looking up into the main dome
One of the Trafford Centre's threeatria
Shops inside the centre

John Whittaker,chose a lavish, unorthodox style seeking to avoid the centre rapidly appearing dated and stale, as so many United Kingdom shopping centres built in the 1960s and 1970s had become. Although the extravagantRococoandBaroquedesign may be viewed as gaudy, he argued the prospect of the shopping centre rapidly ageing was mitigated.[33]

When we first started the architects said, "you shouldn’t be doing all this and giving it all the razzmatazz and showbiz, leave that to the retailers. Make it plain, make it clinical, make it white and hospitalised and let them do the work". So then we put in the paintings, we put in the realgold leaf,we put artefacts everywhere, paintings. It is the people’s palace. It is something to attract shoppers... to give them theDallaseffect.

— John Whittaker – chairman of thePeel Group[34]

The design was a collaboration between the architectural practices ofChapman Taylorand Manchester-based Leach Rhodes Walker.Main contractorwasBovis,[35]with structural engineering services provided byWSP Group.Such was the size and detailing of the building, architects ended up producing over 3,000 separateshop drawingsand the construction process required 24 chartered architects to work on the project full-time to monitor it.[4]

Peel Avenue, Regent Crescent, the Dome, andThe Orient,comprising the original centre were designed so that visitor flows split equally between their two floors.[36]The 20-screenOdeon Cinemaand other leisure facilities are in the Dome area on the third floor, with the infrastructure for an additional fourth floor built ready during the initial construction.[34]There was a originally a market-style area at the end of Peel Avenue called Festival Village, playing host to a range of children's entertainment, independent retailers and restaurants.[37]It was eventually closed in late 2003 to make way for aJohn Lewisstore, which opened in May 2005.

There are three domedatriaalong the length of themall,and the developers claim its £5 million middledomeis bigger thanSt Paul's Cathedral.[38][34]

Decor

[edit]

The Trafford Centre also contains eclecticArt DecoandEgyptian Revivalelements. It is decorated primarily in shades of white, pink and gold with ivory, jade and caramel colouredmarblethroughout.[38][34]

As of 1996there were 45,000 square metres (480,000 sq ft) or £5.8 million ofTuscanmarbleandgraniteflooring fromMontignosoandQuarrata,[39]andgold leafadorns the building's columns.[38]The marble floors and handrails are polished nightly to maintain the centre's opulence.[40]

The Trafford Centre has decorative features such asred roses of Lancasterwhich pay homage to the local area andNorth West England.[41]Griffinstatues adorn the exterior, the heraldic symbol of thede Trafford baronetswho historically owned much of the land in modern-dayTrafford.[4]

Elsewhere, fakepalm treesandneo-classicaldecorativepillarsmade of painted,medium-density fibreboardhave received criticism.[40]Manchesterarchitecture criticJohn Parkinson-Bailey described the Trafford Centre as a building which "will not appeal to purists" and the range of interior architecture as "bewildering".[4]

Portraits around the walls of the mall depict members of the Whittaker family. AMercedescar formerly belonging to John Whittaker's mother was initially displayed on the first floor mall outsideF. Hindsbut is now in Trafford Palazzo.[42]

Sculpture

[edit]

A feature of the centre, and particularly Trafford Palazzo, is thestatuary,fountains and other sculpture. There are over 100 figures, mainly in a classicalGreek/Roman,orArt Nouveaustyle.[43]

AltrinchamsculptorColin Spofforth createdbronzefigures of a jazz band for theNew Orleanstheme,[44]and the crest, above the main entrance.[45]The latter assembles agriffin,unicornandRoman centurion,once more referencing the arms of the de Trafford family.[45]The centurion holds twolightning bolts,a reminder of thepower stationsformerly on the site.[46]

  • Spirit of New Orleans (1998) bronze
    Spirit of New Orleans (1998) bronze
  • Trafford Centre Crest (2007)
    Trafford Centre Crest (2007)
  • The Lady with the Lamp in The Great Hall
    The Lady with the Lamp inThe Great Hall
  • Greek and Art Nouveau style figures in the link to Trafford Palazzo
    Greek and Art Nouveau style figures in the link to Trafford Palazzo
  • Lion sculptures in Trafford Palazzo
    Lion sculptures in Trafford Palazzo
  • Roman style sculpture in Trafford Palazzo
    Roman style sculpture in Trafford Palazzo
  • Dolphin fountain
    Dolphin fountain
  • Mermaid fountain, Trafford Palazzo
    Mermaid fountain, Trafford Palazzo

The Orient

[edit]
The Orient

The Orient is Europe's largest food court with 1,600 seats and 35 retail outlets.[1]It is decorated in the style of a 1930s ocean liner,[47]incorporating detail representing China,New Orleans,Egypt, Italy,americanaand Morocco.[48]The two floors incorporate restaurants, bars and fast food outlets in sight of agiant screen.

Great Hall

[edit]
Great Hall

The Great Hall opened 2007, itsglazedstructure housing five restaurants and cafes. Construction took 18 months at a cost of £26 million and incorporates a sweepingstaircasewithmarblebalustrades.The centre claims its Great Hall has the largestchandelierin the world at 11 metres (36 ft) wide and 15 metres (49 ft) high. The feature incorporates three internal maintenance walkways and weighs five ton.[49]

Trafford Palazzo (formerly Barton Square)

[edit]

The 19,000 square metres (200,000 sq ft), covered Trafford Palazzo opened in 2008[50]and cost £70 million.[51]The former name referenced nearbyBarton-upon-Irwell.

Trafford Palazzo is linked to the main Trafford Centre by a glazed bridge and incorporates a mockItalian Renaissancesquare with fountain andcampaniletower.[citation needed]A £75 million renovation commenced in mid 2018[52]for Primark to open as an anchor tenant in 2020.[9]The first floor extension created 110,000 sq ft of new retail floor space.[53]

  • Entrance to Trafford Palazzo
    Entrance to Trafford Palazzo
  • Barton Square in 2009 before the new level & roof was added
    Barton Square in 2009 before the new level & roof was added
  • Barton Square in 2021 after the new level & roof was added
    Barton Square in 2021 after the new level & roof was added
  • Domed roof in 2021 after the addition of the second floor
    Domed roof in 2021 after the addition of the second floor

Leisure

[edit]

Leisure facilities include a 20-screenOdeoncinema;[54]Laser Questarena;miniature golf;dodgems;bowling;arcade gamesand aSea Life Centreaquarium.[55][56][57]

Transport

[edit]

As of 2011,10 percent of the UK population lived within a 45-minute drive of the Trafford Centre.[1]

Buses

[edit]
The Trafford Centre Bus Station

There is a bus station at the west end of the Trafford Centre, with services to most towns in Greater Manchester.[58][59]

Road

[edit]
Vehicle entrance to the Trafford Centre

The Trafford Centre has 12,500 car spaces and 350 coach spaces; it is sited off theM60,at junctions 9 and 10. Its popularity has resulted in traffic congestion on the M60's Barton High-Level Bridge, requiring a link road adjacent to the M60 crossing the ship canal on a new lift bridge.[citation needed]

All vehicles entering the centre have number plate details recorded viaautomatic number plate recognition.Since its introduction in 2003 at a cost of £220,000,[2]the system has reduced the number of thefts of and from vehicles to a level described as "negligible".[60]The ANPR tracks cars which have been used for serious offences and details of any car with such anumber platecan then be passed toStretfordPolice station.[2]

Trams

[edit]
Trafford Centre Metrolink tram stop

The centre is served by two stops on theTrafford Park Lineof theManchester Metrolinknetwork. The terminus,The Trafford Centre tram stop,serves the west of the centre, while theBarton Dock Road tram stopserves the east of the centre and Trafford Palazzo.[61]

From 1998 to 2020, a shuttle bus had connectedStretford tram stopand the Trafford Centre.[62]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
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[edit]
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