Background
Manchester Academy opened in 1980 and collectively its four venues now play host to over 500 musical performances a year.
The rebuild and renovation of this famous music academy, was intended to increase the venues capacity by more than a third whilst all improvements to the building were to adhere to an explicit green protocol.
Project
Within the contract period of 52 weeks, Seddons utilised ground heat pumps with three bore holes to heat water for dressing rooms using natural resources and also installed a Grey Water System which uses a 38,000litre tank to collect rainwater for flushing and cleaning the toilets. A new coach park at the side of the building has been created to allow tour buses to be plugged into the mains supply and save on diesel running costs and in addition to the major refurbishment works, Seddons improved disabled access to all parts of the building through the installation of lifts, appropriate doors and toilet facilities.
Seddons were charged with demolishing the existing single storey changing rooms and replacing them with a two storey steel framed, zinc clad stage extension. The kitchen and storage areas were replaced with a two storey steel framed brickwork and eternity clad changing block, kitchen and bar area and an 11 meter high, multi coloured glazed stair tower feeding a new upper floor bar and viewing area was created.
The capacity of Academy 1 has now increased by 700 to 2400 meaning an extra 70, 000 more music fans are able to access the venue each year.
Endorsement
The specific demands for such a large project like this one were unusual, Seddon were extremely flexible and helpful with meeting these demands for us. They really pulled out all the stops to allow us to re-open for Freshers Week in September and for the gigs in October. In particular the Site Manager deserves a huge amount of praise for all his hard work and flexibility with the project.
Alastair McGregor, General Manager of University of Manchester Students Union.