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BUILDING THE UK'S 'MOST SUSTAINABILE' LIVE ENTERTAINMENT VENUE
Where is it? Manchester, UK
When will it be completed? April, 2024
Did you know? All of the venue’s toilets will use 100% rainwater when flushing
The £365 million (US$460 million) Co-op Live arena, the UK’s newly constructed live entertainment venue in Manchester, will open to guests in April 2024. Built by BAM Construction UK and set next to Manchester City’s Etihad stadium, it promises to be the ‘largest’ and ‘most sustainable’ indoor entertainment arena in the UK.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CO-OP LIVE
Designed by sports venue architecture specialist Populous, the target is for the building to be net carbon neutral by 2038 with almost 90,000m² of photovoltaic solar panels on the venue’s 10,500m² roof.
BAM started enabling works in early 2021. The venue, which was originally slated to open in December last year, will host around 120 events a year, and feature 32 bars, restaurants and lounges, including locally sourced and sustainable food and drink.
For Bianca Binder, a principal at Populous and project delivery lead for Co-op Live, the launch of the venue marks the end of a complex construction project that started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see everything coming together ahead of the launch as planned, knowing the challenges we faced throughout the process,” said Binder.
Sustainability has been key to both the design and construction. To maintain a low carbon footprint, much of the materials and orders were sourced locally, she says.
“Overall, 80% of construction orders were placed with local businesses in the North-West of England, over half of which are in the Greater Manchester area,” she says.
“This means that £200 million of the arena funding has been spent within the local economy and that the distances travelled by the lorries delivering the construction materials were minimised.” iC