Looking north-east towards Shudehill and Rochdale Road.

“(the CIS Tower) is a Grade II listed post-war landmark.”

Another Flashback Friday and another huge thanks to Steve Welsh for kindly providing another great historic photo.

The top photo this week is from 1999 and the Arndale Centre Car Park, looking north-east towards Shudehill and Rochdale Road.

The bottom photo is from November 2025 and captures some of the change that has taken place over the past couple of decades. From left to right:

Transport for Greater Manchester’s Shudehill Interchange. Following the 1996 Manchester bombing, the Edaw (now AECOM) masterplan called for a new northern transport hub to replace the destroyed Arndale Bus Station. Shudehill was chosen as the location, providing a bus terminus, tram stop and multi-storey car park. A collaborative design by SimpsonHaugh and Jefferson Sheard Architects secured planning permission in 2001; construction began in November 2003, and the scheme opened in January 2006.

Angel Gardens, the 35-storey Ryder Architecture designed tower delivered by Moda, bringing 466 apartments and 20,000 sq ft of commercial space to the NOMA neighbourhood.

Skyline Central, designed by Jacobs Webber for West Properties. Completed in 2007 the scheme includes 249 apartments.

Swan Street House, designed by SimpsonHaugh for Ridgeback Group: a single development comprising two towers of 32 and 14 storeys connected by a 6-storey podium, providing 373 apartments.

Glassworks Manchester, designed by Jon Matthews Architects for Salboy. The 18 storey building - delivered by Domis Construction - includes around 48,000 sqft commercial floor space along with a renovated warehouse (retaining its historic façade), and a smaller five-storey glass building.

Also useful to note that the CIS Tower, designed by G. S. Hay of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and Gordon Tait of Sir John Burnet, Tait & Partners and constructed between 1959 and 1962, is a Grade II listed post-war landmark (listed in 1995). The building was reclad in 2005 with 7,000 blue solar panels.

Finally - and we can’t believe we remember this ! - but the spiral exit from the Arndale Centre Car Park was demolished and replaced in 1999 so we are fairly certain it is the old one visible in the top photo.