New Century revived by Sheppard Robson

new century venue exterior in manchester

(Image credit: Henry Woide)

published 16 March 2023

Manchester's celebrated music venue New Century has just reopened following a sensitive retrofit by architects Sheppard Robson. Working with interior designers Sheila Bird Studio, the practice spearheaded an extensive revamp for the iconic nightlife destination, which had lain mostly vacant for years. Now, forming part of Manchester’s city-centre NOMA regeneration project, the modernist architecture of the 1,000-capacity venue is back in action.

New Century revived

New Century was originally built in 1963 for the Cooperative Wholesale Society, as part of GS Hay and Gordon Tait's New Century House complex (which included an adjacent high rise). Now, the somewhat Miesian plinth structure, which is Grade II listed, has been rebranded 'New Century' and will operate autonomously.

As well as the music venue, the building now houses spaces for Access Creative College, which trains young people for the creative industries, and a food hall.

Ongoing works on the surrounding urban realm allowed for improved pedestrian links to the structure. At the same time, the architects focused on the careful repair and stabilisation of the original curtain walling frame and glazing to the upper floor in collaboration with structural engineer Healey Consulting and contractor Russell WHBO.

colourfull ceiling in new century music venue

The refresh respects the structure's original footprint, paying special attention to cleaning and repairs of the building fabric, in order to bring it back to its former glory – while ensuring the venue adheres to 21st-century standards. In-situ murals by artists Alan Boyson and Steven Sykes have also been restored, linking the interiors back to their initial intention.

'Through careful and minimal intervention at New Century, we have been able to bring a challenging building back to life. Though the scheme has three distinct uses, fortifying the links between them has resulted in a symbiotic relationship – it’s great to see the natural relationship between the creative college and the venue hall and how they benefit from each other,' says Richmal Wigglesworth, associate partner at Sheppard Robson.

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).