North-east along the River Irwell

“The Slate Yard…scheme comprises 424 apartments across three buildings: Graphite (21 storeys), Quartz (16 storeys), and Flint (10 storeys)”

This view is north-east along the River Irwell, taken from the footbridge connecting the Manchester side of the river on the right, and looking towards the Salford side on the left.

The top photo is from 2001 - kindly provided by Steve Welsh - and the bottom photo, from late 2025, shows the scale of change over the past couple of decades. From left to right:

Novella, designed by Hawkins\Brown for ENGLISH CITIES FUND and comprising 211 apartments.

Cenza, also designed by Hawkins\Brown on behalf of ENGLISH CITIES FUND with 196 apartments.

The Slate Yard: designed by AHR the scheme comprises 424 apartments across three buildings: Graphite (21 storeys), Quartz (16 storeys), and Flint (10 storeys), completed in phases between 2017 and 2021.

Four New Bailey, designed by Make Architects.

The 35 storey Affinity Living Riverview designed by Denton Corker Marshall.

Partially visible in the top left of the photo is the Ordsall Chord which was completed in 2017. The project is the UK’s first network-arch bridge and connects Victoria, Oxford Road, and Piccadilly stations for the first time.