The waterside district of Salford Quays, or The Quays, is regarded as one of Greater Manchester’s regeneration success stories.
But EOM believe the success is only partial.
In Salford Quays – or – The Quays – you can shop at the Lowry Galleria shopping mall with its discounted stores and boutiques. You can see a play, show or exhibition at the Lowry arts centre, one of the most striking and controversial pieces of modern architecture in the UK.
You can cross the footbridge to the Trafford or Stretford side of the Manchester Ship Canal and visit the equally striking Imperial War Museum North, and experience how ‘War changes lives’. There’ s a fantastic view from the Air Shard viewing platform towards Manchester city centre.
Manchester United ground with its shop and museum are just a short walk away.
People live and work in Salford Quays. There are office buildings, some impressive and some less so, and residential developments, both 80′s style low-rise and 2000′s style high rise.
Salford Quays is one of the most visited and most photographed places.
But EOM finds there is something lacking. The open expanses of water are spectacular, but it would be great if there was some traffic on the water, as in London Dubai, or Tokyo.
When the former Manchester Docks was developed in the 80′s and 90′s, jetties were installed, but there are few if any boats moored at them.
The only boats are rowing boats from Salford Watersports Centre, the occasional Mersey Ferry doing the Ship Canal Tour, and that’s it.
There is not only a lack of water traffic, but a lack of people. No bustling crowds on the waterfront as in Hong Kong or Shanghai. A lot of the time, the only company is the occasional swans or Canada goose.
And much the architecture in Salford Quays from the 80′s and early 90s is less than impressive. In those early days, the idea of developing the former Docks was still a leap of faith, and there wasn’t the economic drive to support high rise development.
Today that’s changing and groundbreaking new developments are appearing at the water’s edge – the biggest is likely to be the Media City, set to be built on disused land beyond the Lowry arts centre.
Other areas, like the Pomona Docks district, remain entirely undeveloped. And it’s a pity that the area along Trafford Wharf was allocated for industrial use. It would have made a great waterside park or the site for an impressive building for public use.
Salford Quays was rebranded as ‘The Quays’ so that the Trafford side could be included, forming a unified tourist destination. The term ‘Trafford Quays’ has been coined, though where exactly this refers to isn’t clear. A tourist destination brand name without a location identifier can cause problems, especially with a word as common as ‘Quays’. A Google search will also list a development called ‘The Quays’ in Newry, Northern Ireland, as well as others.
Maybe they should have tried to overcome local allegiances and instead of ‘The Quays Greater Manchester’s Waterfront’, the name could simply have been: The Manchester Quays.
EOM believes that the Manchester conurbation should have a single, unified local authority and branding.
For more info on… that place… visit www.thequays.org.uk.
The Lowry arts centre is at www.thelowry.com.
For the Lowry Outlet Mall go to www.lowryoutlettmall.com
Use the Lowry Outlet Mall postcode M50 3AH for satnav and Multimap
The Imperial War Museum North can be found at north.iwm.org.uk.
See my EWM photo feature Stunning Views along the Quays and do search for Salford Quays in the aidan.co.uk photo portfolio.
Photographs capture, article written and post uploaded from Salford Quays – The Quays 1pm Sunday 10 September, 2006.
I had a visit from an Australian business person this summer and took him to see Salford Quays the first thing he said is where are all the boats and people ?
Strange comment that a lot of people have made that I know have beent o salfod quays
Pictures taken in May 2007 of the Salford Quays area
I have been working in Salford Quays now for 12 years. I work as an IT Manager for a Software House at the top of Broadway (just off the M602).
From my vantage point at the top of Broadway, I have watched (and heard) the skyline turn from a relatively dull and uninspiring vision to one becoming saturated with completely different approaches to construction and architecture.
The latest building currently being constructed is the Millenium Tower just outside the office (to be completed early 2008). This tower looms directly at the back of our offices at the top of Broadway:
Flats have also just been built directly outside the office gates.
Although not every piece of architecture is worthy of note, collectively the new buildings and tower flats provide an interesting view especially when approaching the Quays off New Eccles Road.
The set of 3 flats that mark the Salford Quays skyline near the Lowry Centre and Designer Outlet will be matched by flats set to be built directly opposite beyond the media city:UK road crossover near the car park.
Actually, it is a good point about the lack of boats. It seems the architects are attempting to make up for the lack of them by designing the buildings to look like Sails or Boats (namely the Lowry Centre and the 3 Flats that I’m told are supposed to look like Sails).
This area continues to have more and more money invested in it and will acquire even further kudos when the BBC move in. Some of the surrounding glass towers and offices are beginning to make our offices look a little drab by comparison having been built 20 years (or so) earlier.
I was never really convinced by Salford Quays as a catchment area for shoppers with the building of the Designer Outlet. However, as each month goes by and new buildings are erected, I am seeing a gradual increase in the amount of visitors to the Quays. Some shops have been and gone in the Outlet but I think inside 5 years, the area could get quite a bit busier. The Outlet will become more than just a place for local business offices to grab a coffee during week day lunches.
It is already the case that traffic build up on the Broadway slip roads from the M602 and New Eccles road at peak times is proving that maybe the supporting road network for this area is insufficient. This especially with all the new commercial buildings and the influx of office workers that man them (makes you wonder what happens when the BBC move in?).
It is not difficult to see why congestion charges are being considered as for London, although I personally do not look forward to the day when that happens. Currently though, it is yet another half hour earlier out of bed to beat the rush but slowdown around Manchester is inevitable.