Archive Study, Public Engagement, Co-Design and Building

The Proud Place is the new LGBT+ Centre in Manchester city centre, owned and operated by The Proud Trust - a registered charity supporting LGBT+ young people across the North-West.

It replaced the first publicly funded purpose-built LGBT+ centre in the UK, which opened on the same site in 1988. Whilst it was well-loved the charity had outgrown the building, and it was difficult to maintain. It was also designed to be intentionally defensive and largely closed-off from the public realm. Feasibility studies concluded that extension and reuse were not possible.

The briefing process for the new Proud Place took place over two years, and great care was taken to ensure the building and spaces would be able to adapt to a growing and resilient organisation. Staff and user engagement was been key to the vision, brief and the design of the building, and has allowed people with lived experience and knowledge of the previous LGBT+ Centre to meaningfully contribute to the design process. The co-design process involved staff and user groups of the, informing decisions on all aspects of the project - from the layout and spaces, to the external appearance.

The new Centre is a three-storey community centre incorporating offices, meeting and activity spaces, a library and quiet space, a café/community lounge, kitchen, and a roof terrace. It is a generous building, the windows are large, corridors are spacious, and the golden exterior glistens in the sun! The building offers a unique place for the LGBT+ community, somewhere to be proud and protected, and will ensure The Proud Trust can continue their life-saving and life-enhancing work in Manchester, across the North West and in the UK.

Image Credit: Sally Ann Norman

Project Details

Author(s)

Emily Crompton (Research and Engagement Advisor)

Designer

URBED (urbanism, environment and design) ltd.

Function

Community Centre

Location

Manchester, UK

Client

The Proud Trust

Project Start Date

2013

Project End Date

2023

Budget

£2.4 million (overall project budget, £1,544,000 capital)

Funder

Big Lottery, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester City Council, and 60 other small funds along with hundreds of individuals

Contractor

City Build

Collaborators

Photographer: Sally-Ann Norman (copyright main image)

Area (m2)

540

Research Outputs

Exhibitions

Crompton, E., Norman, S.A., 2020. Documenting Demolition: A Community Evidencing Project at Manchester's LGBT+ Centre, 12/7/2022 - 23/9/2022.

Artefacts

Crompton, E., 2022. 'Mainstreaming Inclusive Spaces: The Manchester LGBT+ Centre'.

Performances

Crompton, E., 2020. 'Virtual LGBT+ Centre Discovery Tour', Online, 5/5/2020.

Crompton, E., Hanbury, A., 2019. 'Pre-Demolition LGBT+ Centre Discovery Walk', Manchester, 29/11/2019.

Crompton, E., 2015. 'A walking tour about Manchester's LGBT Centre: we were born in the 80s', Manchester, 14/2/2015.

Book Chapters

Crompton, E., 2021. 'A Quietly Queer Post-Modenist Place'. In Queer Writing for a Brave New World, Out on the Page / The Modernist, UK.

Internet Publications

Crompton, E., 2017. 'WE WERE BORN IN THE 80S: A HISTORY OF THE JOYCE LAYLAND LGBT CENTRE, MANCHESTER', http://queerbeyondlondon.com/manchester/we-were-born-in-the-80s-a-history-of-the-joyce-layland-lgbt-centre-manchester/.

Conference Papers

Crompton, E., Lee, A., Lee, C., 2021. 'Building and Re-Building a Proud (Queer) Space', V CIAG | V International Congress of Architecture and Gender | ACTION. Feminisms and the spatialization of resistances, Lisbon, Portugal, 21/4/2021 - 23/4/2021, in https://warch.iscsp.ulisboa.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/v-ciag-2021-book-abstracts.pdf.

Presentations

Crompton, E., Mardell, J., Furman, A.N., 2022. 'Queer Spaces Talk', The Proud Place LGBT+ Community Centre, 49-51 Sidney St, Manchester M1 7HB.

Crompton, E., Howard, J., Catterall, P., Azzouz, A., Weber, Y., 2021. 'Commonplace Webinar: How can we create, protect and enhance Queer Spaces?', Online Webinar.

Crompton, E., 2019. 'A Short History of How Manchester Built a Dedicated LGBT+ Centre', Manchester Metropolitan University.

Crompton, E., 2017. '4x4 Manchester : Tolerant // Manchester's LGBT History', International Anthony Burgess Centre..

Project Staff

Emily Crompton
Emily Crompton Senior Lecturer View profile