Soho House has finally opened its doors in Manchester – a moment that’s been teased, whispered about, and speculated on for years. Set inside the former Granada Studios in St John’s, the city’s fast-growing creative district, the new House lands as the brand’s North of England flagship and one of its most ambitious UK openings to date.
The entrance sits quietly on Atherton Street, marked only by a discreet brass plaque. It’s very Soho House: understated on the outside, expansive within. Members step into a citrus-yellow reception with Murano-glass light fixtures, terrazzo floors, and furniture that nods to the building’s 1950s broadcasting heritage. If Granada Studios was once where Manchester made television, this is where it plans to make conversation.
From reception, the House splits across multiple floors: the Soho Health Club on the first; 22 bedrooms on the sixth; a dedicated studio and events space on the seventh; and then the main social areas spanning floors seven to nine, topped by a rooftop pool that will open slightly later in the season. Some parts of the building — including the gym floor and bedrooms — will follow in the months ahead as final works are completed, but the heart of the House is now fully alive.
Floor Eight is where most people will end up lingering. It’s an open-plan, all-day space for eating and unwinding, anchored by a sweeping brass-and-timber staircase that drops you into the Club Lounge. The interiors lean into mid-century Manchester — polished plaster walls, custom fabrics including a bold abstracted leopard print created with Yorkshire textile mill Tibor, and vintage pieces like Vico Magistretti’s 1973 Maralunga sofa mixed with contemporary silhouettes. A burl-wood bar with ribbed panelling and a bullnose marble top runs through the centre.
A retractable glass ceiling turns the whole space into an open-air dining room when the weather’s right, extending out to the terrace where the rooftop pool sits behind temporary coverings until the final touches are complete. It’s large — one of the biggest in the Soho House portfolio — and will eventually connect directly to the outdoor bar for long, lazy days on the roof.
Just behind the lounge, the House Kitchen seats 49 guests on navy-and-cream striped velvet banquettes, with antique brass divider screens and scalloped ceramic table lamps adding to the 20th-century mood. The menu runs from morning through night, with weekends set aside for brunch once the House settles into its rhythm.
The ninth floor, newly added to the top of the original building, houses the Club Bar and the Orange Room — a late-night space designed for DJ sets, small parties, screenings and everything that tends to happen once people decide not to go home. A handful of founding members had an early look at the space over the weekend, with the first live performances signalling how the programming will take shape.
Wellness has its own dedicated territory on Floor One, where the Soho Health Club will open with a full gym, studios for classes, and recovery spaces including sauna and steam rooms that open onto a small balcony. Changing rooms will lean spa rather than standard gym: warm light, soft finishes, generous vanity spaces.
Bedrooms — opening later — follow the same design language as the club: warm timbers, patterned textiles and mid-century lines.
As with every Soho House, membership applications are vetted, with a focus on people working in or contributing to creative culture. Once inside, members can bring up to three guests, join the daily programme of events, and make use of the House across all its social floors from morning until late.
For Manchester, this feels like a significant moment — something long rumoured finally materialising. The city now has its own Soho House: a rooftop, a bar, a pool coming soon, and three floors built for people who want somewhere to meet, talk, work, eat, disappear for a few hours, or stay out later than intended.
