The Factory (Manchester)

This article is about The Factory venue in Manchester, England. For other uses, see Factory (disambiguation).
The Factory

Former Granada Studios entrance on Water Street, proposed site of venue
Location Former Granada TV Studios
Water Street
Manchester
M60 9EA England
Coordinates 53°28′40.1844″N 02°15′27.2988″W / 53.477829000°N 2.257583000°W / 53.477829000; -2.257583000Coordinates: 53°28′40.1844″N 02°15′27.2988″W / 53.477829000°N 2.257583000°W / 53.477829000; -2.257583000
Public transit Deansgate train station
Owner Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL)
Operator Manchester International Festival
Capacity 7,000
Acreage 13,000 square meters
Construction
Broke ground February 2017 (2017-02) planned
Opened December 2019 (2019-12) planned
Construction cost £110 million
Architect Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), lead designer Rem Koolhaas
Structural engineer BuroHappold Engineering also civil engineer services and building services
Services engineer Charcoalblue (theatre)
Ove Arup & Partners (acoustic)
Main contractors Allied London
Tenants
Manchester International Festival
Website
stjohnsmanchester.com/the-factory/

The Factory is a £110 million theatre and arts venue to be built on the former site of Granada Studios, in the St John's Quarter of Manchester (currently the site of the Starlight Theatre),[1] being developed by Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL), a development partnership between Allied London and Manchester City Council,[2] and is to be the permanent home of the Manchester International Festival.[3] Its name comes from Factory Records, the independent record label founded by the late Tony Wilson.[4][5]

Background

Initially the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that the venue would cost £78 million,[6] subsequently the council stated that they had managed to secure a further £32 million from "a variety of sources" but added that no public money would be used.[7] The council said that the venue would "play an integral part in helping Manchester and the north of England provide a genuine cultural counterbalance to London".[6] The government confirmed the £78 million towards the £110 million in November 2015. They also announced that, from 1 April 2018, they will provide Arts Council England (ACE) with an additional £9 million per annum to offer revenue support to Factory.[8]:9 In July 2016 the council gave further details about the sources of £110 million capital cost of the building, namely:

Description

The entire space will cover 13,000 square meters and will be flexible enough to accommodate combined audiences of up to 7,000, although it is envisaged that it will operate mainly as a 1,600 seat theatre space plus a 5,000 capacity warehouse space.[9] [8]:10 Plans for the Factory will also align with the adjacent Museum of Science and Industry, which "will become part of the creative public realm, with MSI's creative science ... balancing the creative and cultural production of Factory."[8]:11 The MSI plan to build a new £6 million Special Exhibition Gallery alongside the Factory, the new gallery is set to be complete by 2018.[10][11]

Project board structure

In the summer of 2015 it was announced that the design and development process would be overseen by a Project Board set up by Manchester City Council with Maria Balshaw appointed the Single Responsible Owner for the project. Funding and project monitoring is the responsibility of ACE, who have agreed to second Simon Mellor, ACE's Executive Director, Arts and Culture,[12] for up to two days a week (to be based in the Manchester project office in Manchester Town Hall). His role will be to support the further development of the business case and to work up the technical brief for the design team.[13] Mellor was previously a General Director at MIF.[14] Other contacts for the project include: Sir Howard Bernstein (the council's Chief Executive), Dave Carty (development manager of the council's City Centre Regeneration) and Pat Bartoli (head of the council's City Centre Regeneration Team).[8]:4

In June 2016 it was announced that the chief operating officer for BBC England, Jenny Baxter, is to become project director of The Factory from autumn 2016, at a salary of £140,000 to be paid by Manchester City Council.[15][16]

Design team appointments

The £9.5m design contracts were put out to tender in July 2015.[17] The design team are being procured through the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procurement process via seven lots, each with an estimated duration of 45 months (3 years, 9 months i.e. the summer of 2019) from the award of the contract in mid-November 2015:

Successful bidder: (see "Architectural design team" below)[19]
Successful bidder: Charcoalblue[19]
Successful bidder: Buro Happold[19][20]
The five shortlisted firms: Buro Happold[19][20]
Successful bidder: Gardiner and Theobald[19]
Successful bidder: WSP UK (Trading as WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff)[19]
Successful bidder: Ove Arup & Partners[19]

Architectural design team

Rem Koolhaas of OMA pictured in 1987.

On 23 September 2015, the Architects' Journal announced the shortlisted design teams,[21] however the former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Angela Brady, was amongst a number of architects who expressed their concern that there are no architects amongst the jury that would name the successful bidding firm. The jury comprised: Richard Leese, (leader of Manchester City Council), Tom Bloxham, (chairman of the festival and Urban Splash), and Michael Ingall, (chief executive of Allied London). The jury were assisted by a technical panel: Maria Balshaw, (director of the Whitworth, University of Manchester and Manchester City Galleries - comprising Manchester Art Gallery and Gallery of Costume), Pat Bartoli, (head of the council's City Centre Regeneration Team), John McGrath, (artistic director and chief executive of the festival), Greg Attwood, (development director at Allied London), and Dave Carty, (development manager of the council's City Centre Regeneration).[22]

Out of the 48 architectural firms who expressed an interest, the following nine were invited to go forward by the council:

Rafael Viñoly Architects · Diller Scofidio + Renfro · Bennetts Associates · Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) · Zaha Hadid Architects · SimpsonHaugh and Partners · Grimshaw Architects · Mecanoo International · Haworth Tompkins Limited

The successful company chosen by the council was Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with its lead designer Rem Koolhaas.[19][23][24]

Timescale

The timeframe established by the Project Board contained the following key milestones:Note 1

When the procurement process was complete a detailed design and delivery strategy as well as a detailed business case was presented to Manchester City Council's Executive Committee.[8]

In fact the planning application was submitted to the council in November 2016, however the building is still due to open in 2019.[25]

Training and employment

It is intended that the Factory should deliver a skills, engagement and training programme that is divided into two elements:

  1. Factory Plant, which build's on the festivals existing learning programme[8]:10 and,
  2. Factory Academy, "a new, virtual academy and centre for excellence in training the next generation of technicians, producers and creatives for the performing arts and live events industries across the Northern Powerhouse."[8]:11

It is also anticipated that the venue will have 125 permanent staff plus 15 apprentices.[8]:12–13

References

  1. ↑ "Starlight Theatre". Old Granada Studios: St Johns. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Chapman, Stephen (27 September 2013). "Granada's Quay Street complex bought by Allied London and Manchester City Council". Prolific North. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Williams, Verity (15 June 2016). "MIF's Giselle at The Palace Theatre, preview: Dancing to a different tune". Creative Tourist. Creative Tourist Ltd. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (29 July 2015). "The Factory project: New £110m arts venue named after Tony Wilson's Factory Records to open in Manchester". The Independent. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Williams, Jennifer (22 July 2015). "Manchester's £110m Factory Theatre takes a big step forward with architects set to be appointed". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Manchester to get new £78m theatre named The Factory". BBC. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Youngs, Ian (29 July 2015). "The Factory Manchester £110m arts venue approved". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Manchester City Council (July 2016). Executive meeting: 16. Updated Draft St Johns Strategic regeneration framework and Factory Manchester (Report). Manchester City Council. Retrieved 22 July 2016. Pdf.
  9. ↑ "The Factory". stjohnsmanchester.com. Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL). Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "About Us: Transforming our Museum". msimanchester.org.uk. Museum of Science and Industry. November 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2016. Pdf of Carmody Groarke's design.
  11. ↑ "Museum of Science and Industry". carmodygroarke.com. Carmody Groarke. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Hutchison, David (20 July 2015). "Simon Mellor appointed project director for Manchester's the Factory". The Stage. The Stage Media Company Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 Manchester City Council (29 July 2015). Executive meeting: 16. The Factory Manchester: Project Delivery (Report). Manchester City Council. pp. 222–224. Retrieved 5 August 2015. point 5.0. Pdf.
  14. ↑ Woolman, Natalie (3 January 2012). "MIF general director Simon Mellor to join arts council". The Stage. The Stage Media Company Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Williams, Jennifer (21 March 2016). "Council advertises for £140,000 arts chief to head Factory project". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  16. ↑ Chapman, Stephen (2 June 2016). "BBC's Jenny Baxter to lead Factory Manchester". Prolific North. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  17. ↑ Clark, Tim (27 July 2015). "Manchester seeks architect for £110m The Factory venue". Building.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Provision of design services lots 1-7 for the Factory Development, Manchester". UnitedKingdom-Tenders.co.uk. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 admin (26 November 2015). "The Factory Manchester arts building". e-architect. World Architecture. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  20. 1 2 Barrett, Emma (23 March 2016). "BuroHappold part of the team appointed to design and deliver Manchester's newest flexible arts space, The Factory". burohappold.com. BuroHappold Engineering. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  21. ↑ Fulcher, Merlin (23 September 2015). "Stellar shortlist revealed for Manchester's new £110m arts venue". Architects' Journal. Emap Ltd. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Marrs, Colin (1 October 2015). "No architects on Manchester's Factory competition jury". Architects' Journal. Emap Ltd. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Brown, Mark (25 November 2015). "Rem Koolhaas wins Factory design project as Manchester goes Dutch". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  24. ↑ Staff writer (November 2015). "Images". boltonquinn.com. Bolton & Quinn. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  25. ↑ Fulcher, Merlin; Braidwood, Ella (24 November 2016). "OMA lodges plans for Manchester's £110m 'Factory' arts venue". Architects' Journal. Emap Ltd. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

See also

Notes

Note 1 The original timeline was as follows:
  • May 2016 - planning application submission
  • January 2017 to December 2018 - construction
  • January 2019 to June 2019 - commissioning of facilities and test events
  • July 2019 - opening ceremony
Reference to Note 1

External links

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