Manchester gets a ‘Guggenheim’ moment as Campfield Market is reborn

Manchester will get a new ‘must see’ building this summer that will be so trendy ‘people will just hang around’ outside, it’s claimed.

Developers have likened it to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum – an art gallery which has stood as a symbol for the Spanish city since it opened in 1997, to acclaim from architects, locals, and visitors.

Bosses at developer Allied London say the new ‘campus’, at Campfield Market in Castlefield, will have such strong cool credentials, ‘people will just hang around’ it to soak up the atmosphere like hipsters do around the Basque gallery.

Campfield Market in Castlefield

“Campfield will be a must-see building,” said chief executive Michael Ingall in February. “When you go to Bilbao and see the Guggenheim, people just hang around these buildings.”

It’s now understood Campfield will open in late June — and most Mancs will recognise the city’s new fashionable spot.

Mr Ingall added: “It will once again be open for social gatherings and for the public to enjoy. The project will see these historically significant buildings given a new life and fully equipped to play an integral part in the next generation of artistic and creative output from the city’s new creative district.”

The campus will be based inside the former Upper and Lower Campfield Market Halls, two grade-II listed Victorian buildings just off Deansgate.

The History of Campfield Market

Originally built in 1882 and 1878 respectively as an exhibition and market halls, they became a barrage balloon factory during the Second World War.

Thousands then visited the Lower Hall for decades, as it hosted the Science and Industry Museum’s aerospace collection from 1985. But the museum left in 2021 as the hall needed ‘substantial’ restoration.

In the four years since the shutters came down, the Lower hall has been renovated by Allied London. It will feature workspaces for media firms, and a central cafe-bar called ‘Campfield House’ serving ‘artisanal coffee and light bites’ in the day, ‘world class cocktails’ and wine in the evening, and markets are set to return with food stalls at the weekend.

The smaller Upper hall will become ‘Campfield Studios’, complete with media studios and an atrium available for hire.

In-between the historic buildings is Castlefield House, an office block constructed on the site of St Matthew’s Church, demolished in 1951. It is being repurposed into a media post-production hub.

Who has paid for the Campfield Market regeneration?

Some money for the project came from a government levelling up grant centring around ‘industry’, according to Allied London’s Tanya Grady, part of the wider £1 bn spent on the St John’s neighbourhood.

Manchester council encouraged the bid for the government cash, and city leader Bev Craig said the authority has ‘been supporting this project from the start’.

She went on: “Campfield is a much-loved historic site that has sat empty and underutilised for so long. Manchester’s reputation is growing globally as a leader in the creative, tech and media industries, and this new hub is another example of creating a supportive ecosystem where businesses can start-up, scale-up and thrive.

“It’s great to see this scheme come to life, bringing a renewed energy to Campfield.”

You can find out more about the Campfield Market regeneration here