Evaluation

That Exchange Square is popular is undoubted. The space is dynamic and appealing and always seems to be busy, despite the fact that Manchester's climate is not always conducive to outdoor life. On all but the most inclement days, shoppers take a break here at any time of the day, and at lunchtime there is little room to be had on the ramp walls and railway wagons as sandwiches are munched by office workers. The Square is a popular meeting place too; anxious glances at watches are a common occurrence, during the day and evening. At night the life emanating from the two restored timber pubs spills out and lively groups of young and old alike swirl across the square.

Since May 2003 a large TV screen mounted on the Triangle has also become a popular focus of attention.
The abstracted stream with its quirky crazy paving stepping stones seems to be popular with all age groups, especially children.

The scheme's broad appeal is a credit to Martha Schwartz. Even though she was not retained throughout the scheme it is clear that the structure of the site is largely as she intended, particularly the system of ramps.

However, certain elements, particularly the obvious amendments from the original design, do seem problematic. The exclusion of the artefacts boxes because of a perceived threat of vandalism does seem unfortunate; they would have provided more intimate points of interest to complement the scheme's overall grand plan.

The stainless steel arm rests which have been added to the ramp walls may have stopped skateboarders, but they are visually intrusive, detract from the quality of the design and also discourage the original idea of walking on the walls. Moreover, they seem to have made people's seating habits more regimented. When the site first opened, people relaxed any which way on the stone blocks, watching life in all directions. People now tend to sit in rows, generally facing the large TV screen on the Triangle Shopping Centre. The combination of the screen and the alterations to the seating unfortunately do make the Square seem rather like an outdoor cinema.

Finally the tilting windmills do not really add anything to the scheme. The fact that they are quite obviously mechanically powered seems somehow disingenuous. They don't relate to the scheme and are lost against the dominating glass facade of the Selfridges building and largely ignored by users of the space. Whether the controversial palm trees would have worked better is of course open to debate but, whether loved or hated, they certainly would not have been ignored.