Giant bench at Arndale
Published: 19 April, 2011
An 18 metre long bench, creatively designed into a curvy ‘M’ shape, now forms a new meeting and resting point for hundreds of shoppers who pass through Manchester Arndale each day.
The Ultra Girls, who recently supported Kylie Minogue on tour, stopped-off in Manchester to launch the new bench and to promote their new single ‘Girls Will Be Girls’.
Plans are already afoot for Arndale’s style advisor, Debs Hatfield, to use the bench as a catwalk for future fashion shows.
Glen Barkworth, general manager at Manchester Arndale said: “For many years there hasn’t been a specific meeting point within the centre and it makes it difficult for people to agree where they should begin their shopping experience. We wanted to create something memorable which will become an iconic meeting point, hence why it is shaped as a curvy ‘M’. It certainly should be a new talking point for Manchester Arndale as I don’t think there is another bench like it anywhere else in the city centre.”
Designed by Beyond Communications, the top of the bench is made out of red linoleum - an environmentally friendly 100 per cent natural material. One section is interchangeable and has a backrest for the elderly. There is also a higher part for those who find it difficult to bend and a lower end to allow children to sit on it easily.
