CITY OF Cultureplex
When the creative duo behind London eatery Bistroteque decided to pursue a new venture, the only way was up…
When you already have one of the coolest restaurants in town, where do you go next? For David Waddington and Pablo Flack, the pair behind Bistroteque, the east London fashion crowd’s favourite since 2004, it was obvious. ‘Manchester was a no brainer. It has strong cultural underpinnings and is full of creative individuals,’ says Flack of new venture Cu lt urepl ex .‘ We hope it becomes a community centre for those same people too,’ he adds.
The restaurateurs, who hail from Yorkshire, know the city well, having partied there during its halcyon ‘Madchester’ days. But that was 30 years ago and, although Cultureplex shares the similar 19 th-century red brick architecture, a far more sophisticated experience awaits. The pair couldn’t believe their luck when they secured a vast 15,000-square-foot area on the ground floor of a former goods warehouse, located on the outskirts of the buzzing Northern Quarter. They called upon New York design agency Love Is Enough to transform the listed interior into a Bistroteque restaurant, coffee counter, cinema and multipurpose events space complete with its own cultural programme.
Loren Daye, the founder of Love Is Enough, spent time in Manchester, soaking up the city. ‘I am most interested in creating places that are deeply contextual,’ she says. ‘This takes time in new cities, listening to buildings and communities.’ And Daye should know – she’s gained plenty of experience doing just that, having created five Ace Hotels across the globe as the brand’s creative director.
Here, Daye has drawn upon the industrial heritage and ‘robust history’ of the site, which was built in 1867 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. She says, ‘We made the building the protagonist in the story and introduced layers that would work with the existing terracotta bricks and soft pale blue of the columns and structural steel. It was a challenge to build a new joinery language that could meet the building’s beefy size, but chunky timber and calm-inducing Douglas fir panelling were perfect.’
Inspired by Pierre Adolphe Valette’s impressionist portraits of Manchester, the palette is soft and muted, with black and a liberal dose of greenery. Daye also ensured the design reflected the city’s fabric, seeking out local craftspeople and suppliers, from Standard Pottery for lamps, and Darwen Terracotta and Faience for glazed tiles. ‘Visiting Faience’s glaze sample room was a highlight. I had heart palpitations for days,’ says Daye. Let’s hope Cultureplex induces the same excitement for Mancunians and visitors alike (cultureplex.co.uk; studioloveisenough.com).
‘MANCHESTER WAS A NO BRAINER FOR OUR NEW VENTURE. IT HAS STRONG CULTURAL TIES AND IS
FULL OF CREATIVE AND
AMBITIOUS INDIVIDUALS’