A cultural hub and venue in Manchester has been named on a list of 100 “World’s Greatest Places” to visit in 2024. The Greatest Places list is an annual instalment by TIME, highlighting 100 extraordinary destinations worldwide, categorised into places to stay and places to visit.
Aviva Studios, home of Factory International is the first cultural institution in the United Kingdom designed by the powerhouse architecture firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), co-founded by Rem Koolhaas. According to TIME, the venue is just part of a wealth of new destinations in Manchester which have seen the city emerge as a “cultural capital”.
The 7,000-capacity Aviva Studios is located on the site of the old Granada TV studios, where it hosts theatre, concerts and exhibitions from major national and international names.
The venue houses a vast space called the Warehouse, which has a standing capacity of 5,000, plus a 1,600-seat theatre named the Hall.
Both spaces are configurable meaning they can be moved around to accommodate various exhibitions, shows and performances. The venue also houses enough space for collaborative events and large-scale work.
The venue opened its doors to audiences of the hugely successful Manchester International Festival 2023 which is set to be hosted here bi-annually moving forward.
It has also hosted major dance-theatre spectacles including Danny Boyle’s Free Your Mind and the eye-popping The Accountants, as well as ambitious residencies from artists like David Hoyle. Aviva Studios, home of Factory International also regularly hosts gigs and musical performances.
Adam Robb, who wrote the stand-alone feature on Aviva Studios for TIME, said: “The long-anticipated performing arts campus on the grounds of the former Granada Studios had star power behind it long before its first show premiered last October.”
The venue made it onto the top 100 list alongside other notable UK destinations including Raffles London at the OWO, which was highlighted as one of the “greatest places to stay”.
To compile this list, TIME solicited nominations of places—including hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and more—from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences.
