The new food hall and live venue made ‘with love’ that’s breathing life into an ‘iconic building’

“When you have iconic buildings like this, they need to be loved and nurtured,” says designer Atul Bansal, from Manchester design studio Sheila Bird. He’s among the team that has brought the New Century Hall back to life, ahead of its opening this weekend.

Now dubbed simply New Century, the ground floor food hall and bar boasts a host of food operators, from The French’s Adam Reid, who will be launching his new ‘posh butty’ concept, to newcomers like Tallow, which will be dishing out the best dry-aged beef in the form of burgers, hanger steaks and rib eyes.

The hall was originally built by the Co-op in 1963 as its own dedicated ballroom for functions, and later became a renowned gig venue. It has seen the likes of Jimi Hendrix - whose lyrics in neon adorn the entrance - as well as Tina Turner and the Rolling Stones.

The gig venue upstairs, which will open next month and is being curated by feted promoters Now Wave, boasts the hall’s original sprung dancefloor, as well as the original lighting and wooden wall cladding of the grade II-listed building.

Meanwhile, the building will also house the Access Creative College, which boasts Ed Sheeran as a patron, will specialise in offering qualifications in music and other creative industries.

Bansal went on: “I always wondered how there was this beautiful building that was empty. So it became a project about love, and trying to get people in to help support it. And we’ve now built this amazing thing, and it’s about bringing this part of the city back to life, which I think is really, really important.

“Music is going to live through the whole building. There will be students learning music in the basement, they’ll be able to play music upstairs, learn the craft, they’ll get to