The Albert Hall is a music venue in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. Built as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

central hall in 1908 by the architect William James Morley of Bradford and built by J. Gerrard & Sons Ltd of Swinton, it has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The main floor was used as a nightclub from 1999 to 2011. The second floor, the Chapel Hall, unused since 1969, was renovated in 2012–14 for music concerts. The venue hosted a few events towards the end of 2013. It officially reopened on 6 February 2014, with a performance by

Anna Calvi Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi (born 24 September 1980) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Awards, Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has b ...

History

The hall was designed in an eclectic style with

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and Gothic elements for the Wesleyan Mission in 1908. A meeting hall is on the first floor with a horseshoe gallery, sloping floor and coloured glass rooflights. The finely detailed

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

is formed into large windows at gallery level, and the interior is abundant in floral decoration in the plaster work and glazed tiles. In the 1990s, the lower two floors were converted into a nightclub called Brannigans which closed in 2011. The hall was refurbished and re-opened in 2013 by Trof, a local independent bar and live music company.

References

{{Coord, 53.47826, N, 2.24793, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Former Methodist churches in the United Kingdom Methodist churches in Greater Manchester Grade II listed buildings in Manchester Music venues in Manchester