Arndale Centres were the first "American-style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total twenty-two Arndales have been built in the UK, and two in Australia. The first opened in Jarrow in 1961, as a pedestrianised shopping area.
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Shortly after the end of World War II Arnold Hagenbach, a baker with a talent for property investment, and Sam Chippendale, an estate agent from Otley, set up a company called the Arndale Property Trust, the name being a portmanteau of "Arnold" and "Chippendale".
The Trust purchased Bradford's Victoria Swan Arcade in 1954 with the intention of demolishing it and developing a new shopping centre, but it took eight years before leases expired and building work could commence, so in the meantime it developed a site in Jarrow, South Tyneside, which became the first Arndale Centre when it opened in 1961. Its trademark Viking statue was built by the Trust in 1963.
When the Wandsworth Arndale opened in 1971 it was the largest indoor shopping space in Europe.[1]
The largest Arndale Centre built was Manchester Arndale. It was redeveloped in 1996 after being badly damaged in an IRA bombing, and the centre has been owned by Prudential since 1998.[2] The centre sufferred minor damage during the 2011 August riots
The Arndale Centres were largely successful, but they also attracted a great deal of criticism as they often involved demolishing old buildings – particularly Victorian buildings – and replacing them with modern concrete constructions in a brutalist style.
The value of the Wandsworth Arndale was maximised by the high-rise tower blocks built on top of the mall, which helped it to become, according to some commentators, "one of London’s great architectural disasters".[1]
The phrase 'the Arndale Centre wasn't built in a day' (in place of 'Rome wasn't built in a day') was used in the film Little Voice.
A sketch in an episode of A Bit Of Fry And Laurie about greetings cards with specific tailored messages inside features a card with the greeting "Sorry to hear your teeth fell out in the Arndale Centre".