Theatres Trust welcomes the approval of The Factory, Manchester

We welcome approval of The Factory, the flagship cultural venue being built in Manchester, which will be a uniquely flexible space for a variety of arts activity and a permanent home for Manchester International Festival (MIF).

We are also delighted to announce that John McGrath, CEO and Artistic Director of MIF, will be speaking at Theatres Trust’s annual conference on 16th October. John will provide an overview of the biennial event, which next takes place in July 2019, and give delegates an introduction to The Factory.

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan said:

“The Factory is a flagship project for the UK and will be a wonderful addition to Manchester’s cultural offer, which will regenerate an important part of the city centre and serve the wider region. Since submitting our planning response to the plans for Factory we have had very positive discussions with Factory and their design team. We understand that everyone involved in the project is aiming to achieve the best possible practice within certain project constraints and are encouraged they are looking at a number of the issues we raised, which we look forward to discussing further."

Factory perspective section (copyrgiht OMA)

Original plans were approved in January 2017. Revised plans were resubmitted in May, and approved in July 2018. The Theatres Trust will continue to work with the team at the Factory to create a building which will be an exemplar of great theatre design and best practice.

View the revised planning application.

See the original proposals.

Image: Copyright OMA