24 Hour Arty People
24 Lever Street is a story about the great things that can happen when you put the right people in the right place with a shared purpose. Originally a textile factory, the building was left empty after the huge fire in Manchester's Northern Quarter and ready for a new chapter in its life. With a growth of young, creative entrepreneurs setting up shop in the area we soon began to a hatch plan with the building's owners to transform it into a hub for creative industries.
Our first job was to restore the building and bring back some of its natural character that had been hidden or damaged. Carefully peeling back the layers we exposed highly desirable features such as iron columns, original brickwork and wooden floors.
When first tenants The Neighbourhood provided a new identity and became ambassadors for the place others soon followed. Over the past 10 years some of Manchester's finest creative companies have been proud to call 24 Lever Street home including True North, Music and Scandinavian digital school Hyper Island.
Shaping a Culture
Put creative people in the right place with permission to do what they do best and even more interesting things happen. Our role has been much more than designers. Acting as landlords on the owner's behalf we have been instrumental in shaping the right culture for the building, making sure that the tenant mix is right and providing budget and encouragement to dream up new ideas to express their presence there. Working with the tenants we have helped transform the building into an advent calendar, made it snow in the Northern Quarter and installed an interactive billboard on the rooftop opening up dialogues between the building and its neighbourhood.
Up on the Roof
In 2014 we collaborated with The Curiosity Bureau and various local creative ambassadors to create The Rooftop Project, a temporary community garden for pop-up events from cinema nights and yoga classes to gigs and exhibitions.
The idea of using this space in a more permanent way evolved into a plan developed with The Neighbourhood and Hawkins\Brown to build a modern extension on the roof, increase lettable area and allow even more forward thinking companies to enjoy what 24 Lever Street has to offer.
