The Hacienda Apartments - Whitworth Street West



The Hacienda Apartments curve gently around the corner from Lower Mosley Street on to Whitworth Street West, not unlike the warehouse building it replaced.  That building is indicated by the red arrow in the aerial image below from the 1940s.



The link below will take you to an image of that building on the Manchester Local History Archive site, dated 1972. 

Image Number 1 - 1972
 Image Number 2 - 1964

The "Pad-u-Like" website describes the new building as, "... an iconic block of 161 high quality one and two bedroom apartments ... Situated in a canal-side setting, these high spec apartments, including duplex and penthouse options, are designed around a central corridor on each floor. Many of the apartments have balconies and the security is strong with secure underground parking and a 24 hour concierge service."


The "iconic status" comes from the fact that in the 1980s the old warehouse on this site became home to the famous Hacienda Club.  Many of the bands who came to fame during the Madchester period played at the Hacienda and it was associated with the rise of acid house and rave music.  The Wikipedia report on  the Hacienda says that it was, " Designed by Ben Kelly, upon recommendation by Factory graphic designer Peter Saville, upstairs consisted of a stage, dance area, bar, cloakroom, cafeteria area and balcony with a DJ booth. Downstairs was a cocktail bar called 'The Gay Traitor,' which referred to Anthony Blunt, a British art historian who spied for the Soviet Union. The two other bars, 'The Kim Philby' and 'Hicks,' were named after Blunt's fellow spies. From 1995 onwards, the lower cellar areas of the venue were converted to create the 5th Man, a smaller music venue."

The Hacienda opened in 1982 and closed for good in 1997.  The building itself was demolished in 2002 to make way for the residential development that occupies the site today.  This new building retained the name of the club and today an historic plaque brings this aspect of the site's history to the attention of by-passers.







The Wikipedia article says that before the old building was converted into a club it had been a yacht builder's shop and a Bollywood cinema, but the site has been home to a wide variety of occupants over the years.  The 1844 OS map of the area shows that the site was home to the Gaythorn Bridge Mill, a timber yard and the Gaythorn Dye Works.  As you can see, the area was a long way from the cultural and residential setting of today.  It was highly industrial and probably quite pungent with the Gaythorn Gas Works just the other side of the railway viaduct.  This clearly pre-dates the laying out of Whitworth Street West because part of the Gaythorn Bridge Mill actually sits astride the present path of that street.




The Goad Map of 1928 shows a different configuration of buildings.  It is likely that the building occupied by offices and an "Iron and Steel Warehouse" is the building that was converted nearly 60 years later into the Hacienda Club.