The vast Victorian arches underneath Manchester Central are set to house luxurious new facilites, including a swimming pool and aquarium.
The facilites will form part of the development at the city’s newest residential tower, Viadux.
Currently being developed by North West-based property developers Salboy, Viadux will provide 375 luxury apartments – with either one or two bedrooms – and residents will be able to enjoy a large private gym, studio space and treatment rooms, private dining, workspace and a karaoke bar as well as the decadent spa, pool and bar in the arches.
A massive engineering project is currently going on in the underground arches in preparation for the construction of the residential tower – which will rise up 40 storeys – alongside the 14-storey office tower.
The two towers will be linked by landscaped gardens.
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The vast Victorian arches under Manchester Central are being converted into luxurious facilities to serve Viadux, Manchester’s newest residential tower under construction.
A critical point in the £300 million scheme – which has been described as “one of the most technically and logistically challenging construction projects ongoing in the UK” – has just been reached this week.
The team are now preparing to punch through from the arches to the service yard above.
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A new staircase and lift access from Great Bridgewater Street to the Deansgate / Castlefield Metrolink stop is also already under construction.
In the meantime, while the large-scale construction work continues, developers Salboy have released a collection of new images today that show how the historic arches will be used to create the state-of-the-art amenities.
Credit: Salboy / Our Studio
Credit: Salboy / Our StudioCredit: Salboy / Our Studio
Speaking on the progress of the development, Simon Ismail – co-founder of Salboy – said: “The vaulted spaces are on a huge scale and are absolutely majestic [so] we wanted to incorporate this historical element into the project and use them to create the most luxurious and unique facilities in the city.
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“We have all this architectural history underground while rising above will be spacious modern apartments, fitted to the latest and highest specification right in the heart of the centre of the city.”
“The technical challenges and design elements are huge on a scheme like this,” added senior project manager, Rob McLoughlin.
“Some of these works never before undertaken in this country [and] it has required an immense amount of planning and team work to get to this point.”
Remarkable Lake District rescue of dog missing for THREE WEEKS
Daisy Jackson
A dog who was missing for almost three WEEEKS in the Lake District has, miraculously, been rescued.
Little Teddy went missing on 2 August, disappearing from his owner on Helvellyn.
Volunteers from Keswick Mountain Rescue Team spent the following weeks searching for the scrappy dog, with one eventually hearing him barking from Dry Gill.
The poor dog had got stuck in the gill in a dangerous location that required a full team of seven to bring him to safety.
Remarkably, Teddy appeared to be uninjured, though he had lost quite a bit of weight after three weeks living wild on the fell.
His rescuers gave him a small amount of food before securing him in a rucksack and carrying him back to Swirls car park.
The whole rescue took around three and a half hours, when Teddy was reunited with his very relieved owner and taken to the vets.
Teddy making his way down from HelvellynTeddy the dog was part of a rescue mission in the Lake DistrictTeddy was rescued after three weeks missingCredit: Keswick Mountain Rescue
Keswick Mountain Rescue said: “The team are absolutely delighted to share this update, as the news of this missing dog had deeply affected so many people across our local community.
“A remarkable outcome after nearly three weeks on Helvellyn, and a huge well done to everyone who kept searching and never gave up on Teddy.”
The mountain rescue team is funded entirely through donations – you can use ‘Buy me a coffee’ to make a small donation HERE, or donate the normal way HERE.
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2021 
