The Science and Industry Museum, one of Manchester’s leading cultural institutions, has begun work on one of its Grade II-listed buildings.
The ‘critical’ repair work will see the historic roof of the New Warehouse replaced – a roof that’s the size of two Olympic swimming pools.
In fact, if you lined up the gutters surrounding the building end-to-end, it would be the same length as London’s Tower Bridge.
The landmark museum’s New Warehouse is more than 140 years old, having first been built as essential storage space for the bustling Liverpool Road Station.
The roof work at the Science and Industry Museum is part of the extensive, multi-million-pound heritage restoration project taking place across the historic site.
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Visitors will be able to see the engineering in action, as scaffolding is erected around the New Warehouse, but the building will remain open for visitors throughout the work.
And there’ll be – as always – a packed programme of events, exhibitions and displays to explore, including the hugely popular Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You.
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Inside the New Warehouse building of the Science and Industry Museum, there are three permanent galleries, three changing exhibition spaces, the main museum entrance, a cafe, shop, and conference space, all spread across three floors.
The Science and Industry Museum’s New Warehouse is having a new roof fitted. Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The urgent repairs to its roof will allow them museum to continue its incredible work inspiring new generations of scientists and innovators.
The works are taking place thanks to the museum’s £14.2m worth of capital funding by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
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As The New Warehouse dates back to the 1880s, the vital work will be undertaken with Manchester-based architects Buttress, who specialise in restoring listed and historic buildings.
This will involve making the roof – a massive 100m x 40m in size (or two Olympic-sized swimming pools) – watertight, completely re-tiling it with 60,000 Welsh Slate tiles from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales.
They’ll match the original slates and will even be nailed in in a traditional way to honour the building’s heritage.
Lower Byrom street warehouse, Liverpool road station, Manchester 1983. Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The work will also make the building more sustainable, with masonry and windows restored and roof lights upgraded.
The final piece of work for this phase will see the gutters replaced with cast iron ones that reflect the building’s history.
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Sally MacDonald, Director of the Science and Industry Museum says: “We are delighted that the next stage of the site’s multi-million-pound restoration project is underway. This marks an exciting moment as we carry out vital repairs to our main museum building, including a brand-new roof.
“Whilst this repair work will bring some disruption to our site, including our largest scaffolding structure to date, the changes taking place now will mean visitors can enjoy our museum for years to come.
“We’ve always been a place of change and transformation and the work on New Warehouse is our next step to future-proof our historic site.”
Alex Scrimshaw of Buttress says: “This is a key milestone for the Science and Industry Museum. The comprehensive repair and renovations reflect our commitment to ensuring that the 140-year-old New Warehouse building will be welcoming visitors for many years to come.
“It’s very exciting to be re-slating the roof with a sustainable national Welsh slate. Traditional lead-lined gutters have been reintroduced, to cope with the ever-increasing pressures imposed by extreme weather.
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“The re-roofing works also provide the opportunity to significantly improve thermal performance; seeing the introduction of an innovative wood fibre insulation; as well as carrying out the meticulous masonry, stonework and window repairs required of a building of this grand stature.
“The project will also incorporate facilities which will enable inspections to monitor and check the building’s precise condition.
“Together with the project team, we are keen to embark on this journey to deliver a museum building fit for the 21st century.”
The New Warehouse work is expected to be completed by mid-2025, with the Power Hall reopening in Spring 2025.
Featured image: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum – Lee Mawdsley
Art & Culture
A music festival is coming to a Manchester skate park
Danny Jones
With the sun starting to shine more consistently and the music festival season well and truly on its way, we’ll admit we weren’t expecting to see an event taking place on a Manchester skate park, of all places.
Projekts Skatepark, the long-standing skating hub and cultural hotspot located under Macunian Way, is set to host the fourth edition of the unapologetically named ‘Metlchester’.
Starting out life as little more than a small Oldham Street takeover, the city centre festival is returning for this year, bringing plenty of alternative music, skate vibes, bevs and more.
You can see the lineup confirmed so far down below:
The 2025 edition of the festival, a.k.a. ‘Metlchester Vol. 4’, is taking place later this month.
Projekts has been catering to local boarders for the past two decades, and along with their on-site cafe and bar, the space has been put to use for several other special events – case and point, Meltchester Festival, which first started back in 2022.
Bringing a healthy dose of garage rock, post-punk and psych music to NQ from the outset, now it’s expanded, you can expect even more variety when it comes to genre this time around, as well as a well-stocked in-house bar and street food stalls.
Oh yeah, and of course there’ll be the usual merch and skate shop for you to browse.
As for the aforementioned tunes, while last year’s festival was headlined by Night Beats and Frankie & The Witch Fingers, topping the bill this year are Snapped Ankles, along with a mix of grassroots artists, including local duo, Slap Rash, who recently featured as one of our Manc artists of the month for April.
Projekts opened back in 2004Slap RashCredit: Supplied
Set in collaboration with Sour Grapes Records, an equally longstanding regional promoter with hundreds of successful events to their name, they make up part of the Greater Manchester Music Commission.
Serving up an exciting springtime event full of energy, from the skate culture to the performances themselves, this is the perfect appetiser ahead of a busy summer schedule as we approach festival season.
They also happen to be the event coordinators for local music venue Big Hands, where not only are current Sicilian traders Rizzo’s are based (also set to join the festival for the day) but where this year’s after party will be held, which is free for ticket holders, by the way.
Set to kick off from 12 noon on 17 May, with a pro skater session running until 2pm before the tunage, Metlchester sounds like a belter.
Featured Images — quantum bunny (via Flickr)/Supplied
Art & Culture
Co-op Live has been named the number one arena in Europe following its debut year
Danny Jones
Despite a rocky opening month or so, Manchester’s Co-op Live made the ultimate instant recovery and has now been named the number one arena not just in the UK but all of Europe.
Manc music venues being best in class? Sounds about right.
Yes, even despite some obstacles, delays and early hiccups, Co-op Live‘s debut year as a live music and indoor entertainment venue has seen it beat out the likes of the long-established and iconic O2 in London to take the top spot.
The inaugural 12 months of the arena have not only seen it welcome all manner of music legends, as well as live sporting events such as the UFC and WWE, but the arena welcomed more visitors than any other venue across the continent during that time.
Names to have graced the industry-leading stage so far include Liam Gallagher, Stevie Nicks and Take That; Peter Kay, Elbow, Sabrina Carpenter, Paul McCartney, and so many more.
Commenting on the successful start, Tim Leiweke (CEO and chairman of the Oak View Groupbehind the venue) said: “Our ambition was to bring the world’s best music arena to one of the world’s greatest music cities and we are thrilled with the reaction from fans and artists alike over this past year.
“Co-op Live’s revolutionary acoustics investment has already attracted some of the world’s biggest artists and events to Manchester, with many more to come. And our sustainability commitment will ensure we remain responsible contributors to Manchester and the planet for years to come.
“We believe that amazing venues can transform cities for the better, and Co-op Live has done just that.”
It’s fair to say we’ve had some truly unforgettable nights in there already – and that’s just in the last month alone. Case and point:
With a continued commitment to achieving ‘Net Zero’ status too, the venue’s carbon reduction technologies, solar panels, heat pumps and rainwater harvesting, not to mention the recently refreshed CityLink walking in partnership with the Climate Pledge, are all things we can be proud of.
Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, went on to add: “We are delighted with the success of Co-op Live’s first year, and to see it taking the top spot off London.
“It shows Manchester is the home of live music in the UK, with Co-op Live bringing so many exclusives from artists like Bruce Springsteen to the city and Oasis playing massive hometown shows this summer – 2025 is going to be one of the biggest ever for our city’s music scene.”
Meanwhile, things are feeling less fortunate at the grassroots end of the spectrum, as the Music Venue Trust is imploring people to get behind a vulnerable Manc music institution.
Daisy Jackson -
31st January 2024 
