The city centre rooms that ‘don’t make sense’ but people absolutely love

Manchester city centre only has two such ‘third spaces’ at present, in NOMA and the Great Northern Warehouse.

Architects behind both believe they’ve been a huge success, bringing in thousands of visitors.

third spaces

Bosses behind both venues believe they are worth investing in for the community, despite not making sense financially for their businesses.

Visitors come from all over Greater Manchester, from all walks of life, so the clubs are not just the preserve of the urban middle class in swanky city apartments or the monied south Manchester Victorian villa set.

However, there is uneasiness about their existence.

Coun Chris Northwood, a Liberal Democrat representing Ancoats, ‘wishes we could get the public sector back to the point where local government can fund it’.

“It’s welcome (the fact that) there are community spaces that people can exist in without having to spend money,” she added.

“The disappearance of such ‘third spaces’ is a huge challenge.

“But it’s problematic it has to be filled by the private sector, which does not always have the same motivation as the public sector in what they are doing.”

Over the past few years, third spaces funded by not-for-profits have left the city centre.

MadLab

One is MadLab, which went from Edge Street in the Northern Quarter to Stockport. The council does provide some, such as funding HOME, the National Football Museum, and the Central Library.

But they all can be reliant on selling tickets to some punters, or making money from a tea or coffee stand. The two new private sector third spaces don’t require you to spend a penny.

Altogether Otherwise is one such space. A former printers on Hanover Street near Shudehill, it’s been repurposed into an activity room, allotment, and gallery space.

It’s a relaxed space where substance wins over style. Equipment for its various clubs is stored on industrial-looking shelves. It smells of paint.

Clubs which meet here, usually midweek at lunchtime or after work, include photography enthusiasts, runners, and a knitting circle ‘run by the daughter of a shepherd’.

There’s also a pottery class in session as Ben Young — Altogether Otherwise founder — gives I Love MCR a tour, with a stitching circle meeting later in the day.

All sessions are free to attend and free for organisers to host, paid for by NOMA developers MEPC.

There are plans to expand events here in the future, with a library being worked on and a temporary gallery open during the LDRS’ tour.

Ben is still working out how best to run the six-month-old space, but where activities are bedded in, he sees a diverse collection of visitors: “Gardening club has been going the longest and that has a proper representative mix of everyone.

“There’s a mix of Ancoats kids, people in the 60s and 70s, and people without any English skills.” Some have come in from Bolton to take part, his colleague Dominique Murray adds.

Across town, a more-established venture also attracts folk from far and wide. Great Northern Warehouse’s ‘Little Northerners’ indoor play area has been popular since opening in 2022, according to May Molteno, from developer Trilogy.

“It’s highly unusual. It’s also very popular. It’s the thing we are most proud of,” she smiles as I Love MCR is on another tour. “This is what buildings ought to look and feel like: people from a lot of different backgrounds coming together.”

Next to Little Northerners, outside the entrance to Odeon, is the ‘book nook’, a free-to-use library that’s ‘generally really respected’ by users. Outside, kids can enjoy a day in Great Northern’s sandpit.

When it’s wet, clubs can also meet in its ‘Village Hall’, a shop unit on Deansgate Mews with a kitchenette. It’s used by groups like a choir and Mandem Meet-Up, a men’s mental health organisation.

Like Altogether Otherwise, Great Northern’s spaces are free to use for non-profits and free to attend, funded by Trilogy.

Are third spaces here to stay?

Are these privately-funded free-to-use spaces here to stay?

By both developers’ admission, these free spaces do cost.

“It does have significant running costs, and cost a lot to set up,” May said of the Little Northerners pod.

“There’s carpeting and lockable covers which are above toddler height. We also run a weekly storytelling stay and play session by a nursery who set it all up.”

They also need to fork out for daily cleaning and weekly deep-cleaning. The outdoor sandpit is tended to by a staff gardener.

But May is unequivocal when asked if it is a wise investment: “Anyone who manages space needs to recognise space is a resource and a powerful one for communities. This is what buildings ought to look and feel like: people from a lot of different backgrounds coming together.”

Dominique, from NOMA developer MEPC, shares May’s view: “When you look at it on a spreadsheet, it does not make any sense, but when you live and breathe it, it does.

“People love it and want to connect. But it’s very difficult to do that if you are short term… we have got this position where we have that longer term outlook.”

“Money talks”

Despite their enthusiasm, money talks.

By generating very little income, one can question how long these profit-making businesses feel they can be generous.

In Great Northern’s case, it is eyeing up a big redevelopment in the next few years, too.

But there will be equivalent spaces in the new complex, I Love MCR understands, suggesting they’re here to stay.

Altogether Otherwise’s future is more uncertain. It’s a ‘meanwhile space’ — which means it can stay there until developers decide to build on the land. In its case, the Hanover Street site ‘is more long-term’ than a previous spot in Noma, and no plans are in the works to directly build on it at present.