Co-op Live: The Building Manchester Deserves Inside (And Outside)

Anything great created by humans begins as a thought, an idea, a vision. Co-op Live in Manchester, England, is no different. The concept, planning and building of a state-of-the-art, music-focused building in the U.K.’s second-largest metropolitan area might seem like a no-brainer, except until now it hadn’t been thought of. The idea would need a steward who knew the market well, had experience with major building projects and could see around corners others couldn’t.

“It goes back to the days when we were building AEG and The O2 in London,” says Tim Leiweke, chairman and CEO of Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company), who began thinking about the Manchester venue market some 15 years ago when he was serving as the CEO and president of AEG. “I was always fascinated that even when The O2 opened, Manchester would be neck and neck with The O2 on tickets sold. Then I started spending time in Manchester, and I began to understand: Manchester is the cultural capital and a central capital of the northern UK. And if you look at the north of the UK, from Dublin to Liverpool, to Newcastle, they don’t have a big arena. They all gravitated to the AO, back in the day, the MEN [Manchester Evening News Arena] as I knew it. The fact that you had an [aging] building that was doing the kind of ticket sales it was doing, I figured that spoke about Manchester, what a great music market Manchester is, its culture and history, the artists that have come from there. It’s an amazing market. And so we knew it was going to be a very early-stage high priority for our company. And we also made a bet that we would build an arena that would ultimately be the most expensive, most sophisticated, most advanced and most revolutionary arena built internationally, anywhere. And as it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.”

Co-op Live, which opens April 23, is the largest arena in Europe offering space for 23,500, while still feeling intimate. It features a completely black bowl, where nothing distracts from what’s happening on stage, as well as lavish acoustic treatments unheard of (outside of Las Vegas, where Sphere might have a say in the matter). The venue has sustainability at the heart of all operations, along with a commitment to the local community and the rich musical legacy of Manchester (see page 6). Co-op Live is also OVG’s first arena project outside of the United States and the most expensive entertainment building ever constructed in the UK or Europe at a cost of £365 million (or nearly $460 million).

Co-op Live has already confirmed some 120-plus events in year one, most of them music concerts. And, according to the building’s general manager, Gary Roden, “Ticket sales for everything we put on sale so far have been absolutely phenomenal. And people are clearly happy to travel to Manchester. Up to 30% of people are traveling more than 100 kilometers [60 miles] to see us, 50% of people are traveling more than 50 kilometers [30 miles]. We really are pulling from all around the UK, and that’s because people have bought into the vision of the venue. The programming is dictating that. You no longer have to go to London to see those big acts, because they now come to London and Manchester.”

Take That (see cover story on page 28) are doing seven nights in their hometown, which is one more show than in London; Eagles are giving their only UK farewell concerts at Co-op Live. That’s in addition to four nights with Liam Gallagher, and two nights each with Olivia Rodrigo and Nicki Minaj.

“We have huge support from the agents and promoters,” says Katie Musham, Co-op Live’s director of strategic programming (see page 26). “They all recognize that we’re in a buoyant market, that ticket sales are through the roof, and people want to spend their money on seeing live in the best possible way they can. What is more, the people in our industry know what Tim and Irving [Azoff, OVG co-founder] are capable of doing, they’ve experienced it in the arenas they’ve opened in the States: Climate Pledge, UBS Arena, Moody Center, Acrisure Arena. They’re beautiful, well-thought-out arenas, and they’re all doing incredibly well. So, the agents are incredibly supportive, as are the promoters. London is always an important market, but some tours are scheduling around the Manchester dates now because they want to get a good date in Manchester. For us, that’s a huge sign that we’re on the right track.”

Aside from the programming, there’s another reason fans, and, indeed, artists, are committing to Co-op Live in such great numbers without having yet seen, felt, or heard the proof of concept. And it’s the great promise this building holds. A lot of the visionary ideas that have become reality thanks to a team of architectural, audio, and visual designers, engineers, builders, craftsmen and women are quite literally unheard of.

The exterior of Co-op Live mimics stacked boxes, speaking to the working-class heritage of any great city, but especially Manchester, whose coat of arms bears the motto: “Concilio Et Labore” (By Counsel and Labor). There are multiple entrance points, including one running alongside the Ashton Canal, which opens up on non-event days, creating a 365-day destination. Depending on where they’re sitting, guests can enter at a lower level directly onto the floor, or a level above, which will bring them on to the back of the lower tier.

But it is the inside of this building where guests will experience the innovative designs created by Populous. “I challenged Declan [Sharkey, senior principal, director at Populous EMEA] out of the London office to reinvent the industry,” says Leiweke. “We talked about what we’ve learned from the Forum, Sphere, the Garden, Climate Pledge Arena, Moody Center. Between our partnership with the Garden and the buildings we own, Declan had an enormous amount of information and experiences that he could lean against, to do what he ended up doing, which is a revolutionary design that’s going to change the industry – from the 23,500-seat bowl to a floor capacity that will get close to 10,000 to the intimacy of the bowl as it relates to music to the acoustical treatment in this building, which is the single most driven acoustical installation I’ve seen in any arena anywhere. Only Sphere will ultimately have the kind of acoustical build-out that we put into this building. It’s absolutely stunningly remarkable. The way Declan and Populous thought through our premium space, our back-of-house space, our loading dock – I’m really grateful to them.”

Sharkey, of course, didn’t mind being asked to reinvent an arena, on the contrary; he thought it was a phenomenal idea. “To deliver a great building, you need a big vision. And Tim Leiweke delivered that vision to us many years ago, and that became the brief to the greatest music venue in the world, the most sustainable in Europe and the largest capacity in the UK. From there, we focused on all those aspects, but the music piece was the driver.” For Sharkey, it all begins “at the heart of the building, the auditorium. It was really about proximity and intimacy and bringing the fans as close as we possibly can to the stage. But there’s a couple of different things we did, which are really unique: We have no ribbon boards inside the bowl, it’s completely black.”

Design elements like these are a result of the direct feedback from artists like Co-op Live investor Harry Styles, who grew up outside Manchester, in Holmes Chapel, where he worked part-time at the W Mandeville Bakery right up to “The X Factor” audition that changed everything. Styles wanted to remove all distractions that could come in between artists and their fans. Populous, and its interior design arm Jump Studios, reimagined the suite level, reducing the light bleed from those premium spaces to an almost imperceptible degree.

“The other piece that we really looked at,” Sharkey continues, “was the auditorium design. Because we don’t have a sports tenant, and there’s no need for an ice pad, we were able to bring the tiers much closer to the stage. If you compare Co-op Live to a large-scale multifunctional arena, we’re about 23 meters closer to the stage, which is substantial. We’ve been able to provide incredible sight lines for all fans, whilst creating a really intimate space by bringing everyone very close. That said, the other thing we’ve been able to do with Co-op Live is create a large standing floor because we can take the retractables away, [forming] essentially a colonnade around the perimeter. So we’re able to get [between 9,000 and 10,000] spectators standing on the floor, which will make it the largest standing-floor capacity for any large-scale venue in the UK.”

“It’s a bizarre thing,” says Roden, “you sit at the back and you feel like you’re too close, and something’s wrong; but then you stand on the floor, and it’s so vast it feels like you’re at a stadium gig, only the sound’s 10 times better because it doesn’t disappear anywhere. Hopefully, those two dynamics coming together are going to create a unique and new experience. When we get that first feedback from fans and artists, we’ll know we’ve cracked it. It’s all credit to Tim Leiweke’s vision, to Populous’ design, and the hard work everyone’s been doing on site to bring that dream to life.”

One of the promoters the OVG team has worked closely with is SJM, led by Simon Moran, who’s an equity partner in the building, and alongside other UK promoter icons like Live Nation UK & Ireland chairman Denis Desmond (also equity partner) and KMJ Entertainment’s Stuart Galbraith served as “spiritual partners, advisors, and leaders,” on the project, as Leiweke puts it.

SJM promoter Matt Woolliscroft is promoting four nights of The Killers, and Niall Horan, and has worked closely with the SJM team on the Take That on-sale – their strongest tour saleswise since their record-breaking “Progress” stadium tour. When he last visited the building, it was very much still a construction site with no seats in place in the upper tier. Commenting on the look and feel, he said, “We’ll know more when the building opens. My overriding feel for the space was that it felt very intimate for the capacity.”

Woolliscroft thinks Co-op Live will provide more choices and opportunities for promoters and their clients in one of the busiest markets in the UK. “Initially I suspect the Co-op arena will be the popular play in the city,” he says. “Longer-term, I think both venues will be looking for new non-core business. Birmingham supports two arenas comfortably but does so with a lot of non-music/comedy business. Manchester can do the same, I’m sure. It’s a great boost to the city.”

Asked about his favorite feature of Co-op Live, Stephen Collins, president, global venue development & special projects at OVG, said “One of the things that will be unparalleled, probably even in the U.S., are the acoustics of the building. Co-op Live is a music-first building – yes, we can do basketball, UFC and other sports – but Vanguardia was the acoustical consultant, and the acoustical treatments in the building are directed squarely at music. Any exposed surfaces are getting some kind of acoustical treatment; it far surpasses anything that I’ve ever done before. When people start to hear how the building reacts acoustically, I don’t think there’s going to be another building out there that is going to perform as well.” 

Vanguardia associate director Olly Creedy explains how his team carried out detailed computer modeling to accurately determine the acoustics of the space and the interface with the sound system. “Careful attention ensures a good tonal balance across the frequency range and to ensure any late reflections are masked within the reverberation tails,” he said. “The balance of this is critical as minimizing the reverberation time improves the clarity of the sound, but it can lead to discrete reflections being audible that can be more disturbing than longer reverberation times.”

He adds, “We have explored using more diffusive and angled profiles than are typically used on other arenas, including concertina-style side walls and angled walls to the rear. This ensures sound is redirected to exactly where we want it. Early input into the design ensured we had the space provision to pursue the larger profile depths which would usually be knocked back by architects.”

Creedy notes that the architects’ design didn’t just create visual intimacy, but acoustic intimacy, as well: “The length of the arena is relatively short in comparison to other arenas, which minimizes the physical volume, improves direct sound coverage and reduces the time arrival from late reflections.”

One of the most expensive concert buildings ever constructed outside the U.S., is also the most sustainable building ever built anywhere outside of the U.S. It began during construction, with the main contractor, BAM, sourcing the vast amount of materials from within a 50-mile radius of the site. As BAM’s executive director James Wimpenny explained during Co-op Live’s topping out ceremony last summer, “about 80% of the construction work has been done by local businesses from Manchester, and from the Northwest, and the majority of that from the Greater Manchester area. Almost £200 million [$250 million] of the funding that’s been put into this arena has been spent in the local community. Alongside our team at BAM, we welcomed 386 local suppliers, 40% of which have been based within five miles of this development, and a further 36% from the Greater Manchester area.”

Wimpenny added, “We’re actually proud to demonstrate the value that we provide as a construction business, and I know I’m speaking on behalf of our team here, we often don’t get the recognition in construction for what we do, but we’re pretty proud of what we do, what we add back to the local community and how we do that.”

Co-op Live will be 100% driven by electricity (as opposed to using any kind of fossil fuels), with 10,500 square meters of solar panels on the roof. There are food and water recycling programs in place; the heat from the bowl is recovered as it leaves the air handling units, and is used to heat the venue’s water; there’s LED lighting throughout; and the team aspires to get to zero-waste-to-landfill.

“We will operate this building through GOAL [Green Operations and Advanced Leadership], our sustainability operations company,” Leiweke says. “It will help us get past the critical hurdles to become the second carbon-neutral arena in the world after Climate Pledge Arena [in Seattle].”

According to Populous’ Sharkey, “The other piece, when we talk about music, is experience. As designers here at Populous, we’re delivering experiences. When you look at some of the spaces that we created within the venue: 41 bespoke bars, restaurants, and lounges, all of those are tapping into the rich music heritage of Manchester with nods back to the [legendary club] Haçienda and the like. Spaces like the Bentley Record Room, or the Decibel Club, they’re essentially nightclubs within the venue. At the front of the building, we’ve got the atrium, a triple-height space that also operates as a completely independent venue within the venue.”

The atrium is also known as The Street, a 2,500-capacity space that screams EDM, and emanates a London Printworks vibe. It will host its own events when the main auditorium is silent, and offer space for those artists not yet able to fill the big room (see page 25). And the experience ought to also be great for the artists and their teams as a huge amount of work went into the back-of-house.

Sharkey explains, “There are 12 artists changing rooms that are going to deliver an experience and a level of finish that doesn’t exist anywhere in Europe at the moment. It’s also incredibly flexible, whereby artists can bring in their own chef, they can personalize the space; bring in their own equipment. When you go further into the back-of-house and look at the loading bay, it’s incredibly flexible, very large — we can unload eight articulated trucks in parallel. We’re always very quick to talk about the front-of-house, but a huge amount of effort, work, and thought has gone into optimizing the operation of the building, as well.”

The stage is all set for opening night, April 23, when the most successful UK comedian of all time, Peter Kay, kicks off the entertainment at Co-op Live. Now that Leiweke’s vision has become reality, one can’t help but marvel at it. As well as the excellence all involved partners have brought to the table, from co-investors City Football Group; co-investor and consultant Harry Styles; the architects at Populous; naming rights partner Co-op; equity partners Simon Moran (managing director, SJM), and Denis Desmond (chairman, Live Nation UK & Ireland); the city of Manchester; and BAM, who probably had to face and overcome the biggest bumps in the road within this process, according to Leiweke.

“They’ve had to deal with a lot and yet, they have persevered, and I’m absolutely astounded by the work they’ve done and their eye to detail,” Leiweke says. “The quality craftsmanship of the finishes in this building are some of the finest I’ve ever done in my career. And I give BAM, and their subcontractors [the credit]. What I love about our construction workers is how proud they are of this building. They know they’re building the greatest international arena ever built. They know they’re building the most expensive arena ever built outside of the United States. Their pride, their commitment to the quality here has been unbelievable. We overcame COVID, Brexit, and the fact that it’s harder to get the trade and the craftsmen that we need. Somehow, some way, BAM got through all of that, and they’re gonna get us to the finish line, and I’m extremely grateful and proud of BAM.”

Leiweke also mentioned the City of Manchester, represented by Mayor Andy Burnham and Leader of the Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, as “phenomenal in their partnership with us.” The entire team at OVG is keen on giving back to the city through Co-op Live, be it through the apprenticeships awarded to local students during construction, or the pledge to donate £1 million per year to local causes (see page 34). It is estimated that the many guests Co-op Live will attract to Manchester will deliver £1.5 billion [$1.9 billion] in 20 years to the local economy.

According to GM Roden, “The vision is about giving Manchester something it deserves, and to surprise and delight the UK entertainment industry with a building that is going to be a game-changer. I use that word a lot — game-changer — but it really is. It’s a state-of-the-art arena built with entertainment, and specifically music, in mind, which is going to deliver an experience for fans they’ve not quite experienced indoors at this scale before. And it’s quite hard to sum that up in words, to be honest, but the vision is to deliver on the promise that fans and artists alike will feel it, they will see it, and they’ll hear it. These are the three things that we can guarantee: You’ll feel it because the sound will reverberate around; you’ll see it, because you’re closer to the action than you’ve ever been before in a similar space; you’ll hear it, because it’s been designed for music. That’s exciting for the fans, but, God, it’s exciting for the artists. We want the people of Manchester to be proud of what we’re doing here, it’s for them, and I can’t wait for them to engage with it.”