HOME, Manchester's new £25m culture centre at the heart of the wider 20-acre, £500m First Street regeneration project, will launch on Thursday 21 May 2015.
The new centre for arts, theatre and film is a merger between the city's Library Theatre Company and Oxford Road's Cornerhouse and will become the country's largest combined arts centre outside of the capital.
Cornerhouse is set to close in April 2015.
"Its unique location in the heart of First Street has been a catalyst for the creation of a new cultural and commercial quarter"
Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo (the firm behind Birmingham's new £189m library), HOME will feature a 500-seat theatre, a further 150-seat flexible theatre space, five cinema screens, a 500 metre square, 4 metre high gallery space, digital production and broadcast facilities and a cafe, bar and restaurant.
HOME's springtime launch will kick-off an opening bank holiday weekend of events including the world premiere of Olivier Award-winning Stockport-born playwright Simon Stephen's The Funfair; the launch of a year-long music and film project bringing together some of the city's finest musicians to perform original scores over archive footage; and group exhibition The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.
The full 2015 programme will be revealed in January 2015.
HOME taking shape
It is estimated that HOME will attract up to 500,000 visitors in its first year, which should put the new arts centre straight in as one of the top five most visited attractions in the city.
Dave Moutrey, Director and Chief Executive of HOME, says:
"This gives a little taste of our artistic ambition for HOME when it opens in May next year.
"We’ll be a HOME for everyone, staging challenging and critically engaged art, yet connected with our city and communities. Our opening will introduce audiences to new and extraordinary experiences of outstanding art and show off to the world just what is possible in our beautiful new building."
Councillor Rosa Battle, Executive Member Culture and Leisure, Manchester City Council says:
"The opening of HOME marks the newest high profile addition to Manchester's renowned cultural scene - a scene that brings with it huge economic benefits and is a big part of what makes the city a place that people want to live, work and invest in.
"Its unique location in the heart of First Street has been a catalyst for the creation of a new cultural and commercial quarter that is fast developing in the surrounding area, and that looks set to bring even more jobs and further investment into the city."
Danny Boyle is a HOME patron
The launch date announcement comes as HOME prepares to host the ninth annual Re:Play Festival in a specially built pop-up theatre space at Number One First Street from Monday 12 to Saturday 24 January 2015.
Re:Play gives audiences a second chance to see the best and most talked-about productions from Manchester and Salford’s thriving fringe scene.
Patrons of HOME include Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, actress Suranna Jones and poet Jackie Kay MBE.
