A new social and cultural destination featuring
a restaurant, lounge, coffee counter, events spaces with outdoor
terraces, and cinema will be opening July 2019.
Located on the edge of Manchester’s Northern Quarter on the Western
end of Ducie Street, Cultureplex overlooks the Piccadilly Basin in a former goods warehouse, becoming the latest of the city’s heritage buildings to take on a new purpose.
Brought to Manchester by Bistrotheque founders Pablo Flack and David Waddington, the suffix –‘plex’ means parts or units.
Amidst the industrial pillars of Cultureplex sits a coffee
counter, Klatch, serving fresh, healthy(ish) food and juices by
day, then natural wines and craft beer by night. A vast central
all-day space to work, lounge and dine, plus 80-seater restaurant Bistrotheque with an expansive open kitchen, a small but highly specced Mini Cini and three adaptable meeting and event spaces for more selective gatherings, complete the ground floor of the building.
Its interiors are designed by Loren Day from New York based studio, Loveisenough. Housed in an old goods warehouse, the interior design sets out to celebrate the industrial heritage of the building leaving original structural features intact, bringing rejuvenation and restoration to the forefront of the project.
Newly-appointed Programme Director, Katie Popperwell, and the team will deliver a quarterly themed programme of events and new commissions across film, performance, visual arts and craft. In response to the changing
cultural infrastructure of Manchester, Cultureplex seeks to be
a new kind of cultural institution designed to support the creative
sector through structured workshops and training for freelancers
as well as new opportunities to make and display work.
Katie says: ‘Manchester’s cultural infrastructure
is in the midst of massive change, with F&B a more and more central
part of the picture for many institutions. We’re flipping the model
of a cultural space, allowing us to be playful with our programme,
and really listen to the needs of the creative community.’
Pablo Flack says: ‘The idea of a Cultureplex had been kicking
around in my mind for a little while and on seeing the space for
the first time, I immediately thought, ‘and this is it’. But the space
is just the starting point, what it becomes will be determined
by the people that now interact with it. Our job is not to tell
Manchester what’s interesting, it’s to create a space for the
people of the city to tell us. We’re very excited to be working
with Katie Popperwell on programming and have every faith that
Manchester, with its strong cultural foundations, is the perfect
home for Cultureplex.”
On a personal level, as a Huddersfield born, ex Manchester resident, it’s great to be back up North and spending time in what has became an exciting, engaging and ambitious city.’
David Waddington says: ‘I grew up in a very rural part of the
North West, and at that time Manchester was a strong influence.
I’d make pilgrimages to institutions like Cornerhouse and
shops like Creme. Returning to the city now, the culture, style
and enthusiasm is ever present, and I’m looking forward to
Cultureplex being a part
