 Aviva Studios, Home of Factory International | |
| Location | Factory International Water Street Manchester M3 4JQ England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°28′40.1844″N02°15′27.2988″W / 53.477829000°N 2.257583000°W /53.477829000; -2.257583000 |
| Public transit | Deansgate station /Salford Central station /Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink |
| Owner | Manchester Quays Ltd (MQL) |
| Operator | Manchester International Festival via theproject's board |
| Capacity | Up to 7,000 1,500 – 2,000 auditorium 5,000 flexible 'warehouse' space |
| Acreage | 13,300 m2 (143,000 sq ft) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | January 2019 |
| Opened | June 2023 |
| Construction cost | £185.79 million |
| Architect | Office for Metropolitan Architecture, lead architect Ellen van Loon |
| Project manager | Manchester City Council |
| Structural engineer | BuroHappold Engineering also civil engineer services and BREEAM |
| Services engineer | BDP (building services) Charcoalblue (theatre) Level Acoustics (acoustic) |
| Tenants | |
| Manchester International Festival | |
| Website | |
| factoryinternational | |
Factory International is an arts organisation based in Manchester, England. It produces the biennialManchester International Festival (MIF) and operatesAviva Studios, a landmark cultural venue designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).[1] With a focus on commissioning original interdisciplinary works across theatre, dance, music, visual arts and digital media, Factory International collaborates with global artists and institutions, positioning Manchester — and the North — as a significant cultural hub.[2]
Factory International builds on the legacy ofManchester International Festival (MIF),[3] which focusses on performing arts, visual arts and popular culture. The festival is staged across Greater Manchester – from theatres, galleries and concert halls to railway depots, churches and car parks.
Plans to build a new cultural building in Manchester were announced in December 2014[4] by then Chancellor,George Osborne, who pledged a £78 million[5] investment as part of theNorthern Powerhouse programme.[6] The project was backed byManchester City Council, which stated that the venue would "play an integral part in helping Manchester and the north of England provide a genuine cultural counterbalance to London".[5]
In January 2017, MIF were named as the operators of the new cultural venue,[7] tasked with developing its ideas and programme.
The Government announced that, from 1 April 2018, they would provideArts Council England with an additional £9 million per annum to offer revenue support to the project.[8]
In recognition of the new balance of its activity, in September 2022, the whole organisation re-branded as Factory International,[9] though it will continue to present MIF every two years.
In 2022, the organisation was awarded a National Portfolio Award from Arts Council England of approximately £9.9 million per year.[10] Key support also comes from Manchester City Council and a range of sponsors and partners.
In 2023, it was announced that the building would be called Aviva Studios after insurance companyAviva secured the naming rights for £35 million, making it one of the UK's biggest cultural corporate sponsorship deals.[11]
Aviva Studios, programmed and operated by Factory International, was designed by the international practiceOffice for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), founded byRem Koolhaas and is OMA's first major, permanent cultural building in the United Kingdom.[12]
The internal spaces of Aviva Studios cover approximately 13,300 m2 (143,000 sq ft), with adaptability designed to enable the commissioning of large scale and intimate work across different art forms, including dance, theatre, music, opera, visual arts, popular culture and digital work, plus major exhibitions and concerts.
Aviva Studios was constructed on the former site ofGranada Studios, whereCoronation Street and other TV programmes were filmed and is located withinSt John's,[13] being developed byAllied London, which purchased the site with Manchester City Council.[14] The building's development coincides with that of the adjacentScience and Industry Museum.[8] Aviva Studios is next to theRiver Irwell, close to other city centre cultural sites, including thePeople's History Museum,John Rylands Library, theOpera House,HOME and theRoyal Exchange Theatre.
The building covers 13,300 m2 (143,000 sq ft), and comprises three main internal spaces: the ground floor, warehouse and auditorium, with further spaces inside and outside of the building. The warehouse has a capacity of up to 5,000 and the auditorium up to 1,600 seated. The warehouse and auditorium can present events simultaneously, and the warehouse also has the ability to be divided into two spaces by an acoustic wall. Both spaces can also be combined to create and present different types and scales of events.[15] Two public squares on the north and west sides of the building also make up the Factory International site[16][17] and the scheme includes the restoration and reuse of the northern brick arched portion of theGrade II-listed Colonnaded Railway Viaduct.[18]
In the run up to Factory International, MIF commissioned and presented a series of artists and events. Pre-Factory commissions have includedAkram Khan's Giselle;[19]Thomas Ostermeier's Returning to Reims;[20] Available Light by composerJohn Adams, choreographerLucinda Childs and architectFrank Gehry;[21] Everything that happened and would happen[22] by German composer and artistHeiner Goebbels; Special Edition, a series of musical offerings presented with The Warehouse Project;[23] Invisible Cities,[24] a co-commission between MIF,59 Productions andRambert;Ivo Van Hove's The Fountainhead;[25]Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Atmospheric Memory;[26] and to the Moon byLaurie Anderson.[27]
In July 2020, MIF launched Virtual Factory,[28] a series of online commissions by artists, inspired by Factory International's new building, its architecture and the history of the site. The first commission was Your Progress Will Be Saved,[29] by the artist avatarLaTurbo Avedon, in which Factory International was built in the global gaming platformFortnite Creative. Other artists commissioned for Virtual Factory includedTai Shani andRobert Yang. The final commission for the Virtual Factory platform was by artist and filmmakerJenn Nkiru.[needs update]
Factory International's opening programme includedFree Your Mind, an immersiveMatrix films-themed dance, music and visual effects experience with a creative team including composer Michael 'Mikey J' Asante MBE and choreographer Kenrick 'H2O' Sandy MBE (founders of hip-hop dance company Boy Blue), artist and stage designerEs Devlin, playwright and poetSabrina Mahfouz and directorDanny Boyle.[30] The programme also includedYou Me and the Balloons, the largest ever show by artistYayoi Kusama,[31] and The Welcome, a series of events and performances curated by the people of Greater Manchester.
Factory International's 2024 programme highlights includedRobin/Red/Breast, an immersive folk-horror play starringMaxine Peake,[32] a three-week residency by the artistDavid Hoyle[33] andThe Fête of Britain, a festival curated byBrian Eno andEs Devlin featuringJeremy Deller andCornelia Parker.[34] Summer 2024 saw the launch of Summer Factory, a series of cultural and food events at the venue, including the audiovisual installationSweet Dreams in the Warehouse. In Autumn 2024, Factory International opened a new live show,ARK: United States V, by multi-media artistLaurie Anderson.[35]
Balkan Erotic Epic is a durational performance artwork byMarina Abramović, presented at Aviva Studios in Manchester from 9 to 19 October 2025. The piece builds on Abramović's 2005 multi-channel video installation of the same name, expanding its exploration of Balkan folklore, erotic ritual, and collective mythology into a large-scale live performance. The four-hour event featured more than seventy performers, including dancers, musicians, and singers, and allowed audiences to move freely through a sequence of thirteen immersive scenes. Incorporating elements such as Fertility Rite, Massaging the Breast, and Scaring the Gods, the work re-examines the connection between sexuality, spirituality, and the body in ritual traditions.[36]
Factory International collaborates with venues, festivals and companies across the world to commission artists together, working with local, national and international partners and co-producers.
As MIF, Factory International was part of anArts Council England initiative withThe Public Theater in New York – to promote artists and companies based in England to a global audience.[37]Under the Radar Festival supported artists involved in theatre and performance.
Based at Aviva Studios in Manchester, Factory Academy was launched to address local skills shortages in technical, production, and creative roles and offers free courses in areas such as stage lighting, sound mixing, set design, rigging, creative business management, and arts project development.[38]
By 2024, more than 1,000 people from Greater Manchester had completed courses through Factory Academy.[39] Around 60% of graduates have progressed into paid roles within the arts, including employment at major Manchester venues such as Co-op Live and the Science and Industry Museum.[40]
Training takes place inside Aviva Studios and is designed to give students hands-on experience. Alumni have contributed to high-profile productions, includingSweet Dreams, presented at Factory International in 2024.
The timeframe of the project contains the following key milestones:
| Source of funding | Amount £m (% of all funding) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchequer via ACE grant | 78.5(42.25%) | ||||||||
| Manchester City Council | 50.6(27.24%) | ||||||||
| Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund | 21(11.3%) | ||||||||
| ACE Lottery grant | 7(3.7%) | ||||||||
| Fundraising | 25(13.4%) | ||||||||
Total amount = £185.79m | |||||||||
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