Pie in the skyWork on the final phase of the £4m reinvigoration programme for The Triangle has now begun with the construction of a funky new cafalled the Sky Bar, which will sit 40ft above the heads of shoppers.
The free-standing structure, which resembles an opening tulip, will form the centrepiece of the atrium space in Triangle and will be occupied by Caffero when it opens in late spring.
It will cover two decks, have space for around 100 seats and will be a non-smoking venue.
The upper floor will be accessible from within the Sky Bar via an internal staircase and the lower one accessed externally via bridges. The Sky Bar is the final step in a two-year revamp to boost the Triangle’s profile as a shopping destination.
Developed in the wake of the 1996 IRA bomb, the former Corn Exchange struggled after its launch in 2000 and competition intensified as upmarket Harvey Nichols and Selfridges moved in next door.
However, the spectacular new entrance on to Exchange Square, with video screens and a colour changing light wall, coupled with the addition of more than a dozen cutting-edge retailers, including adidas Originals, Joy, Westworld and Lambretta, strengthened the shopping centre’s destination. Together with existing retailers such as Calvin Klein, O’Neil, Karen Millen and Jigsaw, The Triangle now provides customers with a choice of more than 150 of the most sought-after brands in the country and at Christmas saw footfall figures leap 50 per cent from the same period last year:
London based management company Milligan, are behind the multi-million pound revamp after taking over the centre in 2002.
Chief executive John Milligan says “We are in a business of creating places where people want to be and in which they are inspired and the addition of the Sky Bar is the final part of our repositioning of Triangle to create such a place for our customers.”