UK: Urban Playground: A New Activity Park in Manchester Shopping Center

At Manchester Arndale, a major shopping center in Manchester in the northwest of England, a new multi-million-pound entertainment complex called Urban Playground (designed by Baranowitz + Kronenberg) was opened to the public earlier this month, where visitors can enjoy a range of leisure activities on a total area of 4,000 square meters spread over two floors.

These include “The Cube Live” (in cooperation with Objective Media Group), an experience based on the British game show “The Cube”, where guests can experience the game familiar from TV for themselves for the first time. In single or double mode, up to four candidates have to get into a giant Perspex box and complete various tasks that require skill, concentration and nerves of steel. The park’s offerings also include a state-of-the-art nine-hole mini-golf course called “Putters”, with special effects and digital scoreboards.

The location’s gastronomic offerings include the gourmet burger joint The Butcher (with existing locations in Amsterdam, Berlin and Ibiza), which opened its first restaurant in the UK here. Further Urban Playground locations are already being planned – with Nottingham in the East Midlands, the Mellors Group, which is behind the concept, has already set its sights on its home city for another Urban Playground, according to media reports. (eap)