Tateside brings aesthetic and experience-focused AV solutions to newly opened Mollie’s and Soho House Manchester, part of the historic Granada Studios building, a landmark in British TV production and culture.
Opened in 1956 as the UK’s first purpose-built TV centre, the Old Granada Studios is a landmark of central Manchester. Once the home of Coronation Street, today the studios sit at the centre of a major redevelopment in the heart of the city, hosting event spaces and luxury hospitality and leisure offerings, including the first Soho House in Manchester and Mollie’s Motel & Diner. London-based system integration specialist Tateside led the extensive AV installation across both the Soho House and Mollie’s sites.
“As part of our continued relationship with Soho House, we were pleased to be involved as technical partner for the first Soho House in the North of England,” explains Jack Cornish, Technical Director at Tateside. “Mollie’s Motel & Diner is a separate offering, designed by Soho House but with a completely different concept. It just so happened that both site builds were taking place on similar timelines at the same location: the iconic Granada Studios.”
The two standalone projects required Tateside to manage dozens of stakeholders, juggle timelines and remain flexible across wide-ranging scopes of work.
The brief for Mollie’s was driven by the brand’s ambition to fuse quality hospitality with exciting and surprising customer experiences. Tateside was tasked with creating spaces that are as technically capable as they are engaging and enjoyable to spend time in. The Manchester site encompasses guest rooms, a diner, reception, co-working areas and a purpose-built basement cocktail bar and performance space, with Studio IV at the creative heart of the integration project.
“Our remit was to deliver a range of AV systems, consistent with previous Mollie’s installs, and lead in shaping Studio IV into a fully-fledged live performance, broadcast and playback environment,” explains Jack. “This included a Boiler Room-style set-up where live performances can be streamed to TVs across the premises, including for in-room entertainment.”
Studio IV is a basement cocktail bar and club space built around a vintage-style wraparound bar and a 3m-wide on-stage LED wall to support live performances or play pre-rendered content. Audio is delivered via a Martin Audio main PA system built around FlexPoint FP15 two-way full-range loudspeakers, supported by SXCF118 cardioid 18in subwoofers and a distributed system of CDD10 compact loudspeakers and SXF115 15in subwoofers for substantial low-frequency reinforcement, plus dedicated foldback monitors on stage.
Adding to the retro-inspired aesthetic, Tateside also installed Elipson XLS11 loudspeakers above the bar, integrated into the wider sound system. IP54-rated weatherised CDD loudspeakers maintain the atmosphere in the outdoor area.
Play Time!
The DJ setup comprises Pioneer CDJs, an A9 mixer, Technics turntables and Martin Audio CDD-LIVE 8 monitors, whilst Chauvet quad-colour stage lighting is fully DMX-controlled, enabling dynamic show control and integration with visual content on the LED wall. Shure microphones and an Allen & Heath digital mixing console complete the performance system, providing professional-grade equipment capable of accommodating a wide variety of acts and musical genres.
Broadcast and streaming capability is central to the Studio IV concept. A multi-camera BirdDog PTZ system captures performances for live or recorded output. This feed can be distributed throughout the building via an IP video distribution system, allowing guests to watch Studio IV sessions live from other public areas and in-room TVs. A dedicated green room provides performers and production staff with live camera monitoring and return feeds.
“For Studio IV, we designed and fabricated retro video screens to form part of the distributed video-over-IP system. These sit flush within custom joinery above the bar,” explains Jack. “Signage and live sports can be streamed on these screens and they continue the aesthetic we established with the retro-inspired Elipson Heritage loudspeakers.”
Beyond the basement, the wider AV system supports the overall laid-back Mollie’s atmosphere. Ground floor areas such as reception and the American-style diner are equipped with discreet Bowers & Wilkins AM-1 loudspeakers for high-quality background audio, whilst the co-working spaces utilise Yealink A40 video bars integrated with Q-SYS room control.
“Overall, the approach at the Granada Building Mollie’s mirrors the established AV standard deployed at other Mollie’s sites we’ve worked on, such as Bristol and Oxford,” says Jack. “This is one of the many benefits of cultivating long-standing client relationships, as it helps to maintain that consistency across sites.”
Soho In Manchester
A stone’s throw away, Soho House’s first northern club is set across three floors, including club spaces, a lounge, a Club Bar and soon-to-be-completed wellness and Health Club zones. For Tateside, the project focused on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors, including an impressive performance space on the ninth floor with a glass stage overlooking the Manchester skyline.
The AV system designed by Tateside was conceived as an integrated, architecture-led solution, delivering high-quality AV systems with discreet and thoughtful detailing throughout. Q-SYS Core processing provides integrated control of audio and video elements across the premises.
Beginning in the club reception area, Tateside introduced a continuation of the concept established at Mollie’s with a bespoke retro video wall featuring vintage Granada content. Entering the club itself, the seventh floor functions as a flexible events space built around scalable technology that adapts to a wide variety of functions.
A Martin Audio sound system in a white finish supports everything from spoken-word presentations to parties and DJ-led events. The space incorporates projection, wireless presentation capability via Airtame devices and a Sennheiser SL Series wireless microphone system. An Epson projector, concealed within a Future Automation projector lift, combined with a 124in Screenline screen, provides large-format visuals when required.
The eighth floor transitions into a more relaxed club lounge environment with panoramic city views and an indoor-outdoor covered terrace. Here, the system is built around a Martin Audio background music solution based on CDD6B loudspeakers and SX210 and SX110 subwoofers.
A significant amount of Tateside’s work focused on the concealment of technology in close coordination with the interior design team. Loudspeakers, cabling and control infrastructure are, in many cases, fully integrated within custom joinery. A motorised TV lift rises directly from bespoke millwork, maintaining clean sightlines in keeping with the Soho House aesthetic when not in use.
Tateside supplied Pioneer DJ equipment including industry-standard CDJ-3000s and A9 mixers to support in-house DJ sessions. The indoor-outdoor transition is seamless, with weatherised audio solutions extending into the covered terrace area.
Pooling resources
Outside, in the pool and bar area, Origin Acoustics bollard-style loudspeakers and Martin Audio CDD6 marine-grade loudspeakers provide consistent outdoor coverage whilst respecting the visual language of the space. Tateside also equipped the wellness floor, including the open-plan gym, fitness and Reformer Pilates studios and infrared sauna, with a Martin Audio background audio solution paired with Powersoft Unica amplifiers and Q-SYS processing.
Moving up to the ninth floor, members reach the club’s flagship performance level. It includes a large club space and a dedicated live performance area with a full stage wrapped on three sides by glass walls overlooking the pool.
“For the performance area, we went for a top-of-the-line performance system from d&b audiotechnik, based on 44S loudspeakers clustered in a stacked left-right arrangement,” reveals Jack. “The system can operate as a traditional stage performance L/R configuration or switch to a dedicated L/R system specifically for screen playback.”
Additional d&b 5S loudspeakers provide fill, whilst two B4 subwoofers handle low-frequency duties. The system is powered by a combination of d&b 5D and 40D amplifiers. A retractable projection screen and Epson laser projector, concealed within the fabric ceiling via a Future Automation projector lift, provide visual flexibility.
The DJ workstation houses d&b amplification and processing, whilst retro-style Pixel Pat fixtures from Robe are integrated via Art-Net back to Q-SYS for coordinated coloured stage lighting control.
Extensive custom woodworking throughout the venue ensures every technical element is either architecturally incorporated or completely hidden, achieving a balance between performance capability and the refined members’ club aesthetic that Soho House is known for.
“Working on two separate projects in parallel presents obvious challenges, as does coordination with the various other contractors working on the Granada Studios site,” continues Jack. “What really shone during this project was our ability to project manage effectively and work flexibly around client needs and challenging deadlines. The scale of the two projects was vast, with us also responsible for implementing the entire network infrastructure at Soho House. It was a lot to manage, but we’re proud to have played a role in this celebration of Manchester’s broadcast heritage.”
As a bit of a TV history buff, this case study really caught EI’s eye, and once the detail was delved into, it’s clear the Tateside team deserve huge credit for helping to breathe new live into a piece of cultural history, pulling off this accomplished and complex project.