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.”
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight FINALLY booked
Danny Jones
It seems like it’s official: Tyson Fury is finally set to fight Anthony Joshua – and it sounds like it’s happening this year.
Put it this way, it better be worth all the hype after all this time.
Arguably one of the most anticipated all-British bouts of the last few decades, the boxing match between Fury and Joshua is one that fight fans, and even those only occasionally interested in the sport, have been waiting to be booked for ages.
It got to a point where we almost started to think we’d never get to see it come to fruition whatsoever, but now promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that it’s all locked in.
As you can see, putting things in the simplest terms possible, the Matchroom Boxing boss said on social media: “Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on!”
This comes after a previous post, in which he wrote: “The biggest piece of business we’ve ever done, but more importantly, the one we’ve always wanted.
“Biggest year of AJ’s career coming up, the comeback is on.”
Tagging the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) and co-founder of Zuffa Boxing, Turki Al-Sheikh, the government official looks to have recently held a major event in which he hosted several big sporting names.
It was already heavily expected that any potential clash would take place in the Middle East, and it now looks like nailed on that it will be part of the country’s annual ‘Riyadh Season’.
Although things have been relatively tight-lipped on Fury‘s side, ‘The Gypsy King’ did share a little reaction of his own online…
Still more of a teaser on his end than full verification, we hope they’re not going to lead us down the garden path on this one; boxing heads have waited long enough for this one.
The 37-year-old Manchester-born boxer returned to the ring after yet ANOTHER ‘retirement’ earlier this month, winning comfortably against Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Meanwhile, Joshua, now 36, will be making his own comeback of sorts against Kristian Prenga on July 25 – this will also be taking place in Riyadh.
Featured Images — Netflix (screenshots via YouTube)
UK News
Claire’s is closing down stores in the UK and Ireland with more than 1,300 jobs set to be lost
Danny Jones
In another hit to domestic shoppers, Claire’s Accessories is closing down en masse across the UK and Ireland after entering into administration once again.
Falling into an unfortunate financial status for the second time in less than a year, Claire’s will be shutting down all of their standalone stores across Britain, along with their IE branches.
A total of 154 stores will soon disappear, with more than a thousand people set to be put out of work.
Once a mainstay of British high streets up and down the country, the accessory shop known for all things jewellery, piercings and more has ceased trading effective immediately.
Announced at the start of the week and the end of the first full month of Q2, it was confirmed that Claire’s closed their final locations on Monday, 27 April.
With administrators, Kroll, appointed to wrap up business proceedings, an estimated 1,300 English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh workers have now lost their jobs.
Founded way back in 1961 over in the United States, Claire’s has operated across the Atlantic for more than three decades.
However, with various other contemporaries and cheaper online options having appeared over the years, they’ve struggled not just to remain profitable but to compete full stop.
They most recently filed for bankruptcy in the US this past August (2025), with their Belgian, Spanish, and Dutch divisions having already called it quits.
Manchester location(s) have changed a lot over time, but now they’re on the way out (Credit: Arndale)
For many, the outcome isn’t all that surprising, but it will nevertheless be a sad loss for many who have seen multiple generations visit these venues over the years.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2021 
