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Manchester venue shake-up

Council approves 7,300 capacity £110m music, theatre, art and cultural venue as Sankeys closes after building sold to residential developers

By Rhian Jones on 13 Jan 2017


Designs for a new 7,300 capacity £110m arts venue in Manchester have been given the go-ahead as a staple of the city’s club scene, Sankeys, closes its doors for good.

Manchester’s city council has approved plans for a music, theatre, art and cultural venue called The Factory, reports the MEN. It will be run by the Manchester International Festival. £78m of that £110m budget will be Government-funded and the centre will be designed by the OMA studio of architect Rem Koolhass.

The Factory (pictured above) will contain two performance spaces in one warehouse area hosting 5,000 people for standing events, plus a theatre holding 1,600 seated and 2,300 standing. It opens in 2020.

Sankeys, a 1,200 capacity club located in the inner city area of Ancoats, has opened and closed a number of times over the last two decades. Now it has closed its doors for good as the building it occupies, Beehive Mill, has been sold to a residential developer.

Live acts and DJs to have played Sankeys Manchester include The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Danny Tenaglia and Todd Terry. It encompasses the main Basement room, smaller room Spektrum, an outdoor terrace and a bar with a cinema attached. The club is owned by owner of the Sankeys brand, David Sankey.

“It is with great regret and with a very heavy heart, we must close Sankeys Manchester with immediate effect. When you look around Ancoats you’ll see new apartment blocks and new developments throughout the area, we have done well to fend off the developers for so long.”

“It is with great regret and with a very heavy heart, we must close Sankeys Manchester with immediate effect,” reads a Facebook post. “When you look around Ancoats you’ll see new apartment blocks and new developments throughout the area, we have done well to fend off the developers for so long.” Sankey is currently looking into options for a new site that replicates the Basement room and Spektrum.

A serious of pop-up events inclusive of existing bookings and shows yet to be announced will take place in various Manchester venues, the first of which is Sonny Fodera at Gorilla on the February 11. Sankeys Ibiza and Sankeys TYO in Tokyo will continue to stay open, as will brand new venue Sankeys East in London, with a Sankeys Birmingham set to arrive in March.
 


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