THING OF THE WEEK

P-AI IN THE SKY… Most of us enjoy a bit of future-gazing, especially if it is powered by artificial intelligence. However, if you have had enough of computer-generated predictions of how UK cities might evolve in the future, it might be best to look away now.

Architecture practice Planning by Design has been having fun with AI this week in a bid to find out how cities including Manchester and Liverpool might look in 10 years’ time. The images the computer spat out show that Manchester’s thirst for skyscrapers remains unquenched, while BDP and West 8 – the design studios appointed this week to map the regeneration of Liverpool’s waterfront – could do worse than try to emulate the blend of heritage and lasers underpinning the AI version of the city’s docklands.

A taste of Kamani Rossar’s flavour. Credit: via KPPR

PRETTY LITTLE LOBBY… The Kamanis have their fingers in many pies. From their fashion empire Pretty Little Thing to their property development exploits, brothers Adam and Umar know how to make the most of the 24 hours they are given every day. The latest venture from the entrepreneurial duo sees them join forces with designer Rob Rosser to create Kamani Rossar, an interior design studio. The company will serve “luxury clients” and promises to deliver “culturally infused” spaces from hotel lobbies to yachts.

A keen eye for detail is vital for this sort of business to succeed and eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that Rosser’s name has been tweaked slightly in the company’s moniker, presumably because the letter A is more aesthetically pleasing than the letter E?

July 27 will see the bowl filled with fight fans. Credit: via Oak View Group

FIGHTING BACK… It has been a tough week for Co-op Live. The venue was supposed to launch on Monday but the planned Peter Kay gig was moved after bosses decided the arena was not ready. Days later, chief executive Gary Roden stepped down amid news of further delays. While left sprawling on the canvas this week, Co-op Live is trying its best to beat the count.

Keen to put the whole ordeal behind them, the team at Co-op Live has come out swinging with the announcement of the venue’s first sporting event. Co-op Live will play host to a night of blood sweat and tears on 27 July as UFC returns to Manchester for the first time since 2016 in what is sure to be a knockout occasion – providing the venue is open by then.

Commercial flights have not taken off from Blackpool for several years. Credit: via Blackpool Council

FLIGHT RISK… Blackpool is famous for many things: its tower, Ma Kelly’s, and cylindrical sweet treats to name just three. Visitors come from far and wide to enjoy the Pleasure Beach and take donkey rides along the sand but is the town’s visitor economy suffering from a lack of passenger flights from its airport. By the same token, should Blackpudlians not be able to swap their own seaside resort for a warmer one without having to travel to Manchester or Liverpool to fly?

The debate around the future of Blackpool’s airport has hit the headlines in the lead-up to the Blackpool South by-election with both Reform UK and Conservative candidates aiming to secure votes with pledges to look at bringing the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet back to the airport. A good move or a cynical exercise in politicking? You decide.

Sadler’s Cat occupies a site earmarked for a glass extension to the Old Bank Building. Credit: via planning documents

CAT… The popular Sadler’s Cat (previously the Pilcrow Pub) in Manchester’s NOMA district, will remain in situ for another three years. The watering hole opened in 2016 on a site earmarked for an extension of the Old Bank Building and was only ever meant to be temporary. However, despite planning consent for the extension being secured in 2020, the plucky Sadler’s Cat endures to this day.

NOMA has this week applied to keep the pub going for another three years, by which point it is hoped market conditions might have improved sufficiently to allow the extension to be built. The Sadler’s Cat situation calls to mind a similar scenario in another Manchester business district. Allied London plonked the Oast House in the middle of Spinningfields in 2011 with the intention of dismantling it at some point to build an office block. It remains there to this day.