Work began in 2019 to restore the globally important Grade II listed Power Hall, thanks to £6 million from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and additional funding from the Science Museum Group to facilitate urgent and major repairs to the roof and a re-display of the gallery content to show how Manchester changed the world.
Built in 1855 as the shipping shed for Liverpool Road Station, the world's first purpose-built passenger railway station, the Power Hall is one of the most beloved industrial heritage galleries in the country. It houses one of the UK's largest collection of working steam engines, the majority of which were built in Manchester.
In years to come, this multi-sensory gallery will show how Manchester and its people provided the power that changed the city and the world—from the way we work to the consumer society we live in. In revealing more about the human skill and ingenuity of the past, we can't wait to inspire the engineers and innovators of the future.
Scaffolding and securing some elements of this historic structure was completed in January 2020. The roof underwent a critical drying out period, while the museum worked on renewed sustainability plans to take every opportunity to decarbonise.
Following this additional infrastructure work, scaffolding was dismantled in Autumn 2022, internal work is due to begin in early 2023 with the Power Hall due to re-open to the public in Spring 2025.
The Power Hall and Decarbonisation project is to be delivered as one project. However, the required Planning and Listed Building Consent applications must be split into several separate applications due to the different Listings of the buildings and the deadlines for the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. This project was funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategies as part of Phase 1 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, delivered by Salix Finance.
Splitting the consent packages will also allow construction work to start on site earlier and ensure we can meet the Government deadlines.
All current and proposed planning applications can be viewed and accessed in the Planning applications section on our community page.
Title funder
The Law Family Charitable Foundation
Thanks to National Lottery players
Thanks to
The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust
Zochonis Charitable Trust
