At the start of my current MA course, when looking at selecting four buildings with which I was familiar with in order to investigate them further , Dry Bar on Oldham Street became a natural choice for the ' House Of The Music Lover ' ; I already had plans and elevations of the premises through having worked on the building for some eighteen months for the current owner with a view to converting it into a 28 bedroom hotel, and it seemed a natural fit with the other buildings I was looking at.
I was interested , therefore , as part of my studies , to sit in on a lecture by Sally Stone of the MMU School of Architecture discussing the creative and dynamic approach by Ben Kelly with regard to the design of both Dry Bar and the Hacienda. This view seemed quite at odds with that of the clients , New Order , whose side of the saga is recorded at length by Peter Hook in his wonderful book ' How Not To Run A Club '. The view of Academia - cutting edge design - versus the more pragmatic view of the client - financial over-runs and mismanagement that dragged Factory down into spiralling debt and a scheme that didn't answer the brief . I suppose my sympathies lie more with Peter Hook , and I am still not quite sure how you justify the reputation of a designer who does his own thing at the client's expense.
My own work on the MA course on this particular project started by looking at the facade of the premises - my idea was to keep the existing facade as a free-standing ' screen ' and to set a new plain facade some 1500mm back ; this then allows me to explore the idea of ' Liner Notes ' , referencing the information and photos that are tucked away inside album sleeves or inside CD jackets - all in keeping with the idea of re-developing the building as 'House For A Music Lover '. I also took great enjoyment in borrowing the tomb from Joy Divisions ' Closer ' sleeve and interring the current owner - who refuses to pay us for our work -
in a vault below the basement................
........anyway , here is Work in Progress
Blue Monday indeed - and congratulations to Manchester City on shutting up United fans for once.
Surely the client should be buried in the 'Bassment'?
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