Here we are again at the Arndale Car Park – because repetition is the sincerest form of flattery.
One of the twelve car parks on the Twelve Car Parks walk.
Designed by Wilson & Wormersley opened in 1979 as part of the Arndale Centre shopping complex.
Much of the city’s Victorian core was removed to make way for the shopping complex.
1970
1975
Manchester Local Image Collection
Me myself and I and others quite like it, but we would wouldn’t we?
Modern Mooch 
There’s something beautifully unresolved about this view — the emptiness of the deck against a skyline that never quite settles. The wet surface, the faded markings, the barriers paused mid-gesture… it all feels like the city holding its breath.
What I like most is how the car park becomes a vantage point rather than a destination. You’re not meant to stay, yet here it is offering space, symmetry, and a quiet moment above the noise. The contrast between the heavy, functional foreground and the distant glass towers says a lot about how Manchester keeps layering itself without fully erasing what came before.
It’s austere, yes — but also strangely generous.
LikeLike