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Crystal Peaks
Crystal Peaks is a large shopping centre situated in Sheffield in South Yorkshire. It was first opened in 1988 and for two years remained the largest shopping centre in the city until Meadhowhall took this particular accolade in 1990. Crystal Peaks is home to a tremendous amount of shops and other facilities and was formerly the home of a multiplex cinema and large supermarket that has since moved to a new site on the premises. The main area of Crystal Peaks continues to grow and a new extension was recently completed that helped modernise and revitalise a large portion of the centre itself.
Crystal Peaks is well known for featuring a large amount of high street stores and fast food chains compared to other comparable centres, a portion of the retail space is also given over to a unique indoor market and Drake House retail park is situated just across the road making Crystal Peaks the perfect one stop shopping destination in Sheffield. Supermarkets a-plenty within Crystal Peaks ensuring that everything from food to clothing, from CD's to books, from home office equipment to furnishings are all available in Crystal Peaks somewhere. In its original form Crystal Peaks was designed to be a breathtaking sight to behold at a time when large shopping centres were relatively rare. The escalators and elevators all departed from a large pavillion area that featured a waterfall and river, along with a clock tower and large model railway.
The decor is largely tubular steel and modernist in design and has been updated a number of times since the centre first opened in 1988. As time passed and peoples tastes changed the model railway was removed in order to facilitate a more minimalist approach to the design of Crystal Peaks. New elevators were installed to reflect changing ideas about design, these new models allowed visitors to view the inner workings of the mechanisms controlling the lifts. 1,500 car spaces are available to Crystal Castle shoppers and a nearby bus station and two tram stops facilitate visiting from the city centre or from further afield in the suburbs. Crystal Peaks has gone on to become something of a major city landmark for Sheffield and it reflects the pioneering nature of the city. The 400,000 square feet retail complex is still impressive today and its layout is spread over two floors and spaciously laid out in order to allow for comforable browsing of the many store fronts.
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