Hallé St Peter’s Oglesby Centre opens tomorrow

Hallé St Peters & The Oglesby Centre (Photo The Hallé)

Hallé St Peter's opened in 2013, providing rehearsal and recording space for the Hallé as was as space for education and community projects. In Blossom St., Ancoats, Manchester, Hallé St Peter's is a Grade 2 listed building and a de-consecrated church, originally built in 1859. It was the first Anglican Church to be built in this predominantly Roman Catholic community and was one of the initial phases of church building undertaken by Bishop Prince Lee, Manchester's first Anglican Bishop, following the creation of the Manchester Diocese.

Following a design competition, the building has had a new £6.6 million extension built, The Oglesby Centre, designed by Stephenson Studio, a Manchester based architecture firm who won the international RIBA competition. The Centre adds new facilities to the existing Grade II listed church including the Victoria Wood Hall: a large new double height rehearsal space, the Monument Room: an interactive classroom for education work, and a café and bar which will be open to the public. The original church building that opened in 2013 will continue to be used by the Hallé Orchestra and its family of associated choirs and youth orchestra.

The building opens tomorrow, 20 November, with an event which included a specially commissioned poem written and read by the poet laureate Simon Armitage (which will also feature in the fabric of the building) and performances from the Hallé Orchestra and Youth Choir. The celebrations will continue during the weekend of 23 and 24 November when the building will open to the general public, inviting them in to see the Hallé’s choirs and youth ensembles at work, as well as outreach events which will be taking place for the community.