Plans to redesign popular venue Victoria Warehouse - where overcrowding complaints have been made in recent years - have been tabled. Bosses have submitted a planning application to reconfigure the existing complex, made up of three early 20th-century warehouses and ancillary buildings.
If approved, there will be a 200-room hotel, as well as external alterations; a roof terrace; and a seven-storey multi-storey car park boasting 183 spaces in the eastern warehouse. In the western warehouse, there would be a change of use of the second and third floors for corporate events space - including a glazed extension to the roof; a new glazed entrance; external lifts; and other internal and external alterations.
In the central warehouse, the existing event space will get a new roof. As reported by the Manchester Evening News last October, fans at a Paulo Nutini show claimed it was overcrowded, with some people having to be carried out.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
Victoria Warehouse occupies an island site surrounded by the Bridgewater Canal and Trafford Wharf Road and Trafford Road and is near the White City Retail Park and Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium. From sorting cotton to hosting major music events, the venue first provided a base for The Liverpool Warehousing Company to store thousands of pounds of cotton, fabric and confectionery, when it was completed in 1932.
Later down the line, The Bays, which now host 'plug & play' events for dinners and galas, were once packed full of goods from brands including Kellog's, McVitie's and Cadbury's. It was only in 2005 that Victoria Warehouse as we know it today began to take shape, as work began to create one of the most ambitious event facilities in the UK.
Over the past decade, the building has hosted dance music experience, Warehouse Project, fashion shows for major brands and hundreds of weddings ceremonies. A design and access statement submitted on behalf of applicant David Cohen, of Adam Geoffrey Management Ltd, reads: “The client is seeking to develop the existing operation into a high-quality hotel, conference and events destination to take advantage of current market trends.
“The additional function suite accommodating 500 people is an essential component of the hotel development.” It said the plans would enable Victoria Warehouse to host and lead ‘a wider range and depth of events that will attract a broader and wider range of artists and exhibitors to the complex'.
“Whilst already an international venue, the aim is to ensure that Victoria Warehouse improves upon its position,” it said.
None of the Victoria Warehouse buildings are listed or within a conservation area, although planning officers at Trafford council have referred to it as a ‘non-designated heritage asset’. “The design has been developed with careful consideration of the notional heritage status of the building,” architects Drinkwater said.
Drinkwater also underlined the need for additional parking. It said: "The client is seeking to diversify the use of the existing buildings by providing two floors of open-plan office accommodation in the western warehouse.
"In order to make the development economically viable and attract suitable business, the client needs to provide substantial car parking facilities." It said that there is currently only limited surface parking for 52 vehicles and a limited site area to expand the provision.
A similar application was approved in 2020 included a running track and clubhouse on the roof of the western warehouse, but Drinkwater said: 'It is intended to change this component of the proposals for the site."
READ NEXT:
- 'If it was up to me, I would lock him up and throw away the key'
- Porsche spotted racing BMW at more than 140 miles an hour
- Bank of England boss warns of more financial pain to come after yet another interest rate rise
- Body of pensioner found in his flat SIX YEARS after he died
- 'Atrocious' delays, cancellations and 'major issues': Manchester passengers bid farewell to TransPennine Express
