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.
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.
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.
“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.”
Bee Network trams and buses hit by first wave of delays as thousands flock to Oasis gigs
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester’s Bee Network is now facing its first wave of congestion and delays as thousands of Oasis fans travel into the city region and towards Heaton Park by tram.
An approximate 80,000 fans are expected at each of the Live ’25 homecoming shows, with countless Oasis die-hards not just travelling from across the boroughs but up and down the county, as well as from overseas.
While additional tram services and bus provision have been planned way in advance of the huge music and cultural event, the delays and crowds are starting to gather as the show’s start times edge ever closer.
The official Bee Network social media team has now informed commuters and gig-goers of the current situation on the Metrolink lines.
Due to the volume of demand, there are queues for trams and delays to Bee Network services, but things are moving.
We've laid on extra trams for Oasis, with double-trams leaving full from Victoria every six minutes.
As you can see, with Manchester hitting temperatures of 30C today, while it makes for the perfect weather for an outdoor gig, there are growing concerns for those on public transport and queuing to get into the park.
In terms of the trams and buses, extra services are being put on throughout the city, especially on the direct line from Victoria Station to Heaton Park along the already packed post-work Bury line.
With “double-trams leaving full from Victoria every six minutes”, according to officials, while things are getting increasingly busier, they insist that things “are moving.”
An Oasis travel ‘masterplan’ was announced earlier this week to help deal with the hordes of fans; however, reports of those heading to Heaton Park being told to walk amid “hour and a half” wait times are already circulating online.
Today's the day it FINALLY all begins… can you believe it? 😭
Don't forget, if you're heading to Heaton Park later on, then @BeeNetwork has released its transport 'masterplan' for you to follow to make your journey seamless. 🎶🐝
With more Manchester dates coming this month, and the stage times for each concert now confirmed, authorities are once again urging Oasis fans to get there as early as possible – especially if they hope to get the best spot to watch the reunion shows.
It goes without saying that we hope everyone has an incredible time, but we can only echo their statement and would remind you all to stay hydrated, seek shade from direct sunlight when/where possible and look after each other.
And finally, for anyone with any questions ahead of Oasis’ Live ’25 reunion tour shows here in Manchester, you can find our full Heaton Park gig guide down below.
Featured Images —Megan Sheraton (via X)/Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)
UK News
A preview of a promising philanthropic project as Embassy Village makes progress
Danny Jones
Embassy Village, the upcoming homeless village that is set to open in Manchester, is making quick progress, and we recently got to preview the project with an early tour of the site.
Located just outside the city centre proper in Castlefield and near the border into Salford, the humanitarian housing project is looking to provide not just shelter but food and drink, employment, education and all manner of support to local rough sleepers.
Starting out as a controversial shipping container concept, which would have seen repurposed bits of old freight cargo turned into ‘pods’, the idea has grown since then and now
In fact, they’re not far from being done, with the team currently predicting a November finish date. Here’s how it’s looking so far.
Credit: The Manc Group
Situated along a slice of the Bridgewater Canal, running along the length of the recognisable railway arches – 22 of them, to be precise – Embassy Village is set to become the first privately-funded homeless community not just in the UK but anywhere in Europe.
As far as the group behind this inspiring bit of philanthropy can tell in researching for this development, they haven’t found anything like this anywhere on the continent, certainly not on this scale.
Starting out as a repurposed luxury tour bus turned mobile rough sleeping shelter, they have since gone on to run three male and two women’s shelters, helping more than 175 individuals get back on their feet, from being rehomed to getting back into work and, ultimately, living independently.
Created by co-founder and director Sid Williams back in 2018, who has already helped countless vulnerable adults in and around Greater Manchester, there is a lot of faith behind this initiative, quite literally, in fact.
Sid and his wife Tess, who has also been helping spearhead Embassy‘s work here in the UK, are passionate Christians, but there’s no dogmatic or preachy vibes to be detected – at least as far as we could tell, anyway.
The ‘Village Hall’, where work, education and general life skills will be developed.Outdoor spaces are being carved out, including areas to relax, sports courtsand more.Suitable candidates in the shelter system will be selected in order to identify those who could manage resettlement. (Credit: The Manc)
Besides a nice ‘tithing’ idea, which sees 10% of all unrestricted funds from the village donated to relevant charities in the region and further afield, the only real Christian value being promoted here is ‘love thy neighbour’, and that’s the kind of ethos we can get behind regardless of creed.
You can see some of the old fashioned values in aspects such as the public hall seen above, where people will not only be encouraged to gather but learn, create, socialise and once again start to reintegrate into a proper community.
There’ll even be parts of the Embassy’s ‘resettlement team’ living on-site to help get people back on their feet, with at least one dedicated staff member assigned to every six residents.
As Sid put it in a spin on the well-trodden old proverb, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, he believes that sometimes, “it takes a city to raise a village.”
Those staying here will not be given a leg up back into the working world, providing inroads to full-time contracts and a proper wage, but they will also be encouraged to take up wellbeing activities, taken on trips and away days beyond the city limits and Greater Manchester full stop.
An example of the on-site staff’s living quarters.Each unit will have it own front door and all essential amenities.They have an approximate 92% success rate when it comes to rehoming and reintegrating residents, with many ultimately coming back to work for the organisation. Think of it as a ‘pay it forward’ spirit,
With dozens of local businesses contributing to the construction of Embassy Village, they’ve now managed to raise more than £5.2 million in funding.
As well as backing from developers Capital & Centric (led by Salford-born Tim Heatley) and the likes of regeneration specialist Peel L&P, who made the land available, there are several other organisations chipping in to help house upwards of 40 different individuals.
That being said, they are still roughly £400,000 short of their desired target, which will help them build every aspect of Embassy Village they’re hoping to make come to fruition, so further partnerships are obviously welcome.
Following an official update from Manchester City Council, we can also now confirm that the space will link up to the soon-to-be expanded Castlefield Viaduct, where three of four currently out-of-use tram lines will be turned into one long sky garden, similar to New York’s famous High Line.
The National Trust has announced that the @NTCastleDuct 'sky park' has received a whopping £2.75m funding towards a major extension. 🌿🏙
Following our tour of Embassy Village so far, there was one salient takeaway: there are a lot of people who really care about this cause working on this project.
Is it perfect? Maybe not? Would it be great if we could simply end Greater Manchester’s rough sleeping crisis by housing every rough sleeper in a traditional home, or one of the many new build properties in 0161? Of course it would, but we sadly all know it isn’t as simple as that.
Nevertheless, this current option is damn sight better than the alternative: allowing more and more people to end up on the streets, bouncing in and out of shelters, struggling with addiction, mental health and so on. They’re trying and they already have a proven track record spanning more than half a decade.
You can get a better idea of what it will look like when completed down below.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2021 
