A huge Nordic-style tipi is coming to First Street this winter

A huge Nordic-style tipi is coming to First Street this winter serving Nordic-style beers and hot Yorkshire pudding wraps – a true tried and tested Mancunian Christmas favourite.

But tasty food and drink won’t be the only thing on offer at The Lodge. There’ll also be a host of activities and workshops taking place inside – ranging from craft, arts and sustainability-themed workshops to wellness classes and family-focused events.

It will be popping up outside the Gasworks Brewbar from 31st October and stay put until the New Year.

With room for 150 covers, over the Christmas period, The Lodge will play host to a range of fun pop-ups ranging from exercise classes to creative workshops.

Some – such as a trainer repair workshop with Hatch-based boutique SneakerPharm – will focus on sustainable skills: reflecting the neighbourhood’s values of sustainability, wellness, collaboration and culture.

Further workshops in this vein will include bike surgery workshops and classes on making your own recycled wrapping paper – a handy skill to get locked down in the run-up to Christmas, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Other activities will focus on fitness and creativity, ranging from life drawing classes to yoga (reggae, thriller and ABBA sessions are all on the cards) and pilates.

They will also be hosting events with local cultural heavyweights such as Into The Gathering Dusk – a pop-up cocktail night run by mixology maven Emma Roberts, who also hosts boozy workshops around the city.

John McHugh, creative and place director at CBRE, said: “We’ve worked hard this year to come up with a creative and exciting winter events programme which is reflective of what First Street stands for. With the amount of brilliant talent to be found here in Manchester, we were keen to keep things hyper-local.

“We’re excited to be bringing our occupiers and the wider public a space this season in which they can experience all of those things in one place.”

Steve Pilling, owner of Gasworks, said: “There will be something for everyone at The Lodge, as we’ll be putting on special events for families and also collaborating with our neighbours such as HOME. As the neighbourhood is continuing to grow and expand, we’re truly excited to be part of this year’s collaboration and look forward to welcoming everyone to The Lodge at First Street”

First Street recently expanded again, as N08 First Street completed and brought a further 170,000 sq. ft. of Grade A office space to the neighbourhood – there is now over 3,500 people working across the estate.

The commercial and cultural hub is continuing to grow in prominence, as plans for a large-scale co-living scheme on the site were recently revealed and on-site restaurant, Wood Manchester, received yet another nod from the Michelin guide.