The Factory – a nationally important cultural venue in the heart of Manchester – has today, Thursday 26 July, been given final approval by Manchester City Council’s planning committee.

It will be one of the largest purpose-built cultural spaces in the world, enabling the world’s best artists to create work of a scale and ambition not possible elsewhere.

At the same time, it will deliver a multi-million pound boost to the economy and create jobs, skills and training for Manchester people.

Cultural destination

The Factory will be a world-class cultural destination, open to all, and attracting audiences of up to 850,000 a year from across Manchester, the UK and the world.

A uniquely flexible space, it will be capable of hosting everything from epic concerts and major exhibitions to immersive theatre and intimate performances. Dance, theatre, music, opera, visual arts, popular culture and innovative contemporary work, incorporating the latest digital technologies, will come together in ground-breaking contributions involving local, national and international artists and participants.

The landmark building, designed by world-leading architects Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) founded by Rem Koolhaas, will feature two main spaces: a vast warehouse with a capacity of around 5,000 and an auditorium for audiences up to 2,000. Highly adaptable, it will be possible to combine the two spaces, or reduce them in size, enabling a huge variety of work to be presented.

There will be public spaces inside and outside, including a new square and a riverside setting. The year-round programme will be designed to appeal to the widest range of people.

Economic boost

The Factory will deliver a huge boost to Manchester, creating and supporting 1,500 full-time jobs and adding £1.1 billion to the city’s economy over a decade.

It will strengthen Manchester’s reputation as a globally important cultural destination – contributing to the vitally important tourism industry. As part of a major creative, cultural and technological hub at St John’s, it will also help anchor the regeneration of this part of the city centre.

As well as jobs, a key focus for The Factory will be providing training for local people wanting to work in the creative industries in roles from technicians and producers to marketing. The state-of-the-art space will enable the next generation of talent from Manchester and Greater Manchester to develop their expertise by working alongside world-leading creatives. There will also be opportunities for local artists to develop and grow.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Culture and creativity have a critical role to play in Manchester’s future success – not just by inspiring ideas and imaginations but through creating opportunities and jobs. The Factory will help take this to a whole new level and open up a new chapter in Manchester’s history of innovation.

“Not only will people no longer need to move to London for the best cultural and creative roles, it will give audiences from around the country and even the world another great reason to head here.

The Factory will build on the city’s strengths as centre for culture and creativity and the success of the Manchester International Festival, which will operate and create the year-round artistic programme.

John McGrath, Artistic Director and CEO at Manchester International Festival, said: “The Factory will provide space for the greatest artists from around the world to create work of extraordinary ambition and scale, work they always dreamed of making. It builds on the city’s brilliant heritage as a centre for production, for radical ideas and for doing things a bit differently. It firmly underpins Manchester’s reputation as an internationally important city for culture, creativity and technology.”