Tateside leads AV integration across two spaces in the iconic Granada Studios development.

Opened in 1956 as the UK's first purpose-built television centre, the former Granada Studios are a landmark in central Manchester. Once home to Coronation Street, they are now at the heart of a major redevelopment that includes event spaces and hospitality venues, among them Manchester's first Soho House and Mollie’s Motel & Diner.

Tateside has led the extensive AV installation across the Soho House and Mollie’s spaces. "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. The two standalone projects required Tateside to coordinate dozens of stakeholders, manage different timelines and remain flexible across very broad scopes of work.

The Mollie’s project was driven by the brand's ambition to combine quality hospitality with exciting and surprising customer experiences. The Manchester site includes 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 installations, and lead in shaping Studio IV into a fully-fledged live performance, broadcast and playback environment. This included a Boiler Room-style setup where live performances can be streamed to TVs throughout the premises, including for in-room entertainment, explains Cornish.

Studio IV is a basement cocktail bar and club space built around a vintage-style wraparound bar and an LED wall three metres wide installed on stage to support live performances or play pre-rendered content. Audio is delivered via a Martin Audio system built around FlexPoint FP15 loudspeakers and SXCF118 cardioid 18" subwoofers, along with distributed CDD10 loudspeakers and dedicated stage monitors. Elipson XLS11 loudspeakers are integrated above the bar, while weatherised CDD loudspeakers extend coverage outdoors.The DJ setup includes Pioneer CDJ players, an A9 mixer, Technics turntables, Martin Audio CDD-LIVE-8 monitors, Shure microphones and an Allen & Heath digital mixing console.

Broadcast and streaming capabilities are 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 that form part of the distributed video-over-IP system. These sit flush within custom joinery above the bar", explains Cornish. "Signage and live sports can be streamed on these screens".

A stone's throw away, Soho House's first club in the North of England spans three floors and includes club spaces, a lounge, a Club Bar and wellness and Health Club areas that will be completed soon. 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 offering views across the Manchester skyline.

The AV system designed by Tateside was conceived as an integrated, architecture-led solution, delivering high-quality audiovisual systems with discreet and thoughtful integration throughout the venue. Q-SYS Core processing provides fully integrated control of the audio and video elements across the premises.

Beginning at the club reception, Tateside continued the concept established at Mollie’s with another bespoke retro video wall featuring archive content from Granada. The seventh-floor club functions as a flexible event space, equipped with scalable systems that can adapt to the different types of functions hosted there. A Martin Audio sound system in a white finish supports everything from corporate presentations and talks to parties and drinks receptions with DJs. The space incorporates projection, wireless presentation via AirTame devices and a professional Sennheiser SL Series wireless microphone system. The combination of equipment allows for easy reconfiguration between corporate events, private functions and even live performances. An Epson projector, concealed in a Future Automation projector lift, together with a 124" Screenline screen, provides high-impact visuals.

The eighth floor, the heart of Soho House, transitions into a more relaxed club lounge environment, with spectacular city views and a covered indoor-outdoor terrace. Here, the system is built around another Martin Audio background audio solution, based on CDD6B units and SX210 and SX110 subwoofers. A significant part of Tateside's integration work focused on cleverly concealing the technology in close coordination with the interior design team: loudspeakers, cabling and control infrastructure are fully integrated within custom joinery. A motorised TV lift raises the television directly from bespoke millwork, maintaining clean sightlines in keeping with the Soho House aesthetic. Tateside supplied Pioneer DJ equipment, including CDJ-3000s and A9 mixers, to support in-house DJ sessions. The transition between indoors and outdoors is almost seamless, with weatherised audio solutions extending coverage to the covered terrace.Outside, in the pool and bar area lined with sunbeds, Origin Acoustics bollard-style loudspeakers and Martin Audio CDD6 marine-grade loudspeakers provide consistent outdoor coverage while respecting the visual language of the space. Tateside also equipped the club's large wellness floor with a background audio system, again based on a Martin Audio solution paired with Powersoft Unica amplifiers and Q-SYS processing.

On the ninth floor, members find the club's main performance space. It includes a large social area and a dedicated live performance zone with a full stage, surrounded 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", explains Cornish.  "The system can operate as a traditional L/R configuration for stage performances or switch to a dedicated L/R system specifically for screen playback".

The extensive use of custom joinery throughout the venue ensures that every technical element is either architecturally integrated or completely hidden, achieving a balance between system performance and the refined aesthetics of the private members' club for which Soho House is known.

Working on two separate projects in parallel presents obvious challenges, as does coordinating with the various other contractors working across the Granada Studios sites. What stood out during this project was our ability to manage the project effectively and work flexibly around client needs and challenging deadlines. The scale of both projects was vast and, in addition, we were responsible for implementing Soho House's network infrastructure. It was a lot to manage, but we're proud to have played a role in this celebration of Manchester's broadcast heritage, continues Cornish.