The city’s new winter
hideout promises ‘a carousel of winter thrills’, spanning ABBA yoga, make your own
wrapping paper workshops, and more

Manchester’s newest neighbourhood is set to welcome a new
winter programme of pop-ups, activations and events across the festive period.

First Street will be playing host to The Lodge, a 150-person
Nordic winter tipi which will provide a range of quality Nordic-style beers and
a mix of hot drinks, served alongside food such as the ever-popular Yorkshire
pudding wraps. Moving away from the traditional F&B-only offering found in
other spaces around the city, The Lodge will also double up as a flexible event
venue – and will provide craft, arts and sustainability-themed workshops, as
well as wellness classes and family-focused events.

John McHugh, creative and place director at CBRE, said:
“We’ve worked hard this year to come up with a creative and exciting winter
events programme which is reflective of what First Street stands for. With the
amount of brilliant talent to be found here in Manchester, we were keen to keep
things hyper-local.

“Our neighbourhood is built on values of sustainability,
wellness, collaboration and culture, and so we’re excited to be bringing our
occupiers and the wider public a space this season in which they can experience
all of those things in one place.”

The Lodge – which is being brought to the site in
collaboration with on-site operator Gasworks Brewbar – will be in situ at First
Street from 31 October through til the new year, kicking off with a
Halloween-themed Thriller yoga session followed by a launch party for tenants
of First Street. 

Steve Pilling, owner of Gasworks, said: “There will be
something for everyone at The Lodge, as we’ll be putting on special events for
families and also collaborating with our neighbours such as HOME. As the
neighbourhood is continuing to grow and expand, we’re truly excited to be part
of this year’s collaboration and look forward to welcoming everyone to The
Lodge at First Street”

Additional pop-ups and classes will include reggae yoga, a
trainer repair workshop, life drawing, pilates, bike surgery workshops,
business breakfasts, classes on making your own recycled wrapping paper, ABBA
yoga, and events with local cultural heavyweights such as Into The Gathering
Dusk.

The winter events programme has already kicked off with
Manchester Folk Festival, a collaboration which saw First Street hosting free
cultural events on the estate across the weekend of 18 October. The site will
also have a Singing in the Rain-themed flashmob taking over Tony Wilson Place
on 26 October.

First Street recently expanded again, as N08 First Street
completed and brought a further 170,000 sq. ft. of Grade A office space to the
neighbourhood – there is now over 3,500 people working across the estate.

The commercial and cultural hub is continuing to grow in
prominence, as plans for a large-scale coliving scheme on the site were
recently revealed and on-site restaurant, WOOD Manchester, received yet another
nod from the Michelin guide.