The Hidden Warehouse is one of Nottingham's best-kept secret spots for a truly unique drink that you never knew existed. When it comes to the location, even the staff say, 'if you know, you know.'
The nightclub meets vintage shop meets soon-to-be-opened street food hall is tucked away from view down an alleyway on Long Row. The alleyway is marked by a discreet sign above the entrance to the alleyway that reads, 'hidden rooftop.'
Marrianne Thorburn is the bar manager of Hidden. The warehouse was once a bookmaker which closed around 2014. and the stairway in the building had been blocked off so no one knew that the upstairs floors existed as they were unused.
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She said: "The building was acquired in the middle of the pandemic during lockdown by an independent company who wanted to provide a community event space and platform where we felt there was a gap in Nottingham. It's really paid off as people who use the space don't often get that opportunity to rent somewhere.
"We do all sorts here and we want to do educational stuff through screenings and workshops but the uptake was slow due to the pandemic however it's starting to come back now."
The building required a lot of work to get it up to standard and ready to open as it had been empty for so long. Marrianne highlighted that it was a long process that is still ongoing with plans in place for a food hall to be ready to open in September.
"When we got the property," she continued. "It had been left closed for eight years so it was in bad disrepair and the alleyway leading to the property had issues with antisocial behaviour or bin storage which had affected the other businesses too. It needed a lot of work to get it up to regulations needed for a venue like this."
"It needed to be stripped out of fixtures and fittings that we didn't need so we worked from the bottom up to rewire and fit fire alarms and corridors. There was a lot of maintenance needed and it's still ongoing too. We had no female toilets originally because this was a bookmakers so there was a men's toilet but it was a single so we had to change all of that," she said.
When it comes to promotion, visitors usually come to the venue through social media as the rooftop bar has made an appearance across Instagram in particular. The events that the team hosts mean that different communities or music fans become aware of the venue through a particular following.
"Last year when we came out of the pandemic, there were still restrictions that people needed to be outdoors so we opened a pop-up bar up here. It was so successful that we decided to invest properly in the roof to get it to this stage. This year, we have been open from May to September with a view to opening for a few things at Christmas."
Marrianne said: "We are working on a food hall that will have different traders that we are hoping to open in September. It's going to be an all-seated event with a large screen so we can show sporting events. It's a venue for hire too so it can be rented out."
One of the advantages of the club being encapsulated by Primark and other businesses is that it doesn't have any noise complaints. The rooftop bar which has a stunning view of the lit-up council house dome closes at 11 pm while the underground club closes at 4 am. The club section feels almost underground despite being at ground floor level which also helps with noise control.
The venue has been used by many different communities for events such as a Pride weekend rooftop celebration and also a Jamaican Independence event.
"When you start something like this, there are so many barriers to overcome with planning and neighbours. To get over these hurdles and watch people coming to use the space is great."
Plans are in place for all floors to be fully opened by the time the students return in September with the finished food hall.
"The rooftop has been finalised and the ground floor too. Our main project is finishing off the food hall and we are looking forward to the students returning as it will start up properly."
