BRiGHTBLACK X FUSION FACTORY PRESENT

Those Who Hold Up The Sky

28 Feb - 2 Mar 2025

Free to drop in – no booking required

Date: 28 Feb - 2 Mar 2025
Venue: North Warehouse, Aviva Studios
Tickets

Friday 28 February: 5–9pm

Saturday 1 March: 12–8pm

Sunday 2 March: 10am–6pm

Free to drop in – no booking required

Accessibility features available for this event: Captioning Relaxed Performance BSL Interpreting Wheelchair Access

Create your own future city in this playable artwork from artists BRiGHTBLACK and Fusion Factory – a group of Greater Manchester creatives and residents

Welcome to an alternative, futuristic Manchester. An underground movement has tapped into the city’s network – changing everything from adverts and murals to statues and street names. Join the movement! Start changing the city…

What if you could create your own future city? Those Who Hold Up The Sky is a new city-building game from artists BRiGHTBLACK inspired by Manchester and co-created by a group of Greater Mancunians known as Fusion Factory.

Those Who Hold Up The Sky invites you into a world of physical and virtual play where you can remix Manchester. Taking over the North Warehouse in its world premiere, have a go at playing your part digitally or enter one of our making stations where you can get hands on and model your ideas. What you create will make its way into the game.

Fusion Factory is a group of Greater Manchester creatives and residents from all walks of life – over the past six months they’ve come together to dream up a new artwork. BRiGHTBLACK is an artist collective led by Simon Wilkinson and Myra Appannah. Known for their use of immersive tech and playful approach, BRiGHTBLACK co-created Those Who Hold Up The Sky in response to Fusion Factory wanting to see Greater Manchester reflected in the artwork.

Those Who Hold Up The Sky blends creativity, adventure and play into a city-building game with Greater Manchester at its heart. Are you ready to play?

Explore, Create and Play

You can leave your mark on Those Who Hold Up The Sky in different ways:

> Graffiti // 3D model // record yourself at hands-on making stations

> Enter the interactive gaming zone and play the city

> Chill in the clouds amongst distant city sounds

What you create will become part of a video game Manchester, for future players to find.

Access information

Our full address is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

You can approach Aviva Studios along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield). Both entrances to the building have double sets of glass doors.

Once inside Aviva Studios, there is step-free access to all areas of the venue. The flooring throughout the building is smooth concrete.

The entrance to the Warehouse is by lift or stairs from the Social. Two lifts and a staircase to the Warehouse are located in the Social opposite the bar.

The entrance to the Law Family Hall is by lift, escalator or stairs from one side of the Social beside the brick arches. There is only one escalator, and this will take you up to the Law Family Hall before the show, and will be reversed so that you can travel down at the end of the performance.

The Social has a range of seating, including those with arms and backs.

The bars in the Social and Hall Foyer have lowered accessible service points.

Our building is large. We have portable stools available to borrow if you would benefit from resting along the way during your visit.

We have wheelchair spaces and seats at standing events for all events.

There are accessible toilets on all public levels of our building.

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social.

Here you’ll find a mixture of accessible cubicles with left- or right-hand transfer, towards the back of the space, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails, as well as a Changing Places facility.

The toilets in the brick arches of the Social are split into male, female and gender neutral – all of which contain accessible cubicles. There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in both Hall Foyers, at stalls and circle level.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in the Warehouse Foyer.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance dogs are welcome in our building, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request, just ask a host when you arrive. We can also take care of your assistance dog if you do not want to take your dog into the performance space. Please also refer to our assistance dogs policy.

If you are bringing an assistance dog to a ticketed event, please let us know in advance by contacting access@factoryinternational.org or calling our access phone number: 0161 817 4531 (phone lines are open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

There is step-free access to all areas of the venue, with lift access to the North Warehouse from the Social.

The experience is step-free and there is access for wheelchair users throughout. The rooms have been designed with wide doorways and clear pathways.

All videos as part of Those Who Hold Up The Sky will be captioned.

A roving BSL interpreter will be in attendance from midday to 2pm on Saturday 1 March.

There are relaxed showings on Saturday 1 March from 12–1pm and Sunday 2 March from 10–11am.

During these times, there will be no fog and more lighting.

Travel information

There are a number of rail and tram stations within the city centre which are just a short distance from Aviva Studios. The closest stations are:

Salford Central rail station: 10-minute walk via Red Rose Way and Irwell Street.
Deansgate rail station and Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop: 12-minute walk via Liverpool Road.
St Peter’s Square tram stop: 15-minute walk via Quay Street.
Manchester Oxford Road rail station: 25-minute walk via Oxford Street/Quay Street.
Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria rail stations: Both stops have frequent trams operating to and from Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop.

By Bike

There are 40 bike parking spaces at Aviva Studios including space for two accessible bikes.

National Cycling Route 6 passes close to the venue and this TfGM webpage can help with route planning.

You can also hire bikes from on-street docking stations across the city centre. The closest docking stations to our venue are currently on Deansgate by Liverpool Road and (400m from the building) and by King Street (500m from the building). Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

By Walking and Other Active Means

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street via Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

If you're coming from Quay Street, the safest route to avoid construction works is via the cut-through opposite Gartside Street and past Booking.com.

All footways in the surrounding area are well lit and there are appropriate crossings across all main roads.

Pedestrians with visual impairment are recommended to approach the building via Water Street, from Liverpool Road. This route has traditional carriageway and footway design with fixed street furniture which should help with navigation to the entrance.

A footbridge at Left Bank in Spinningfields provides an accessible link across the River Irwell to Salford Central station, and a further footbridge also links Aviva Studios with the Salford area of Middlewood Locks.

Free bus

The free bus 1 service connects Piccadilly Station, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations, as well as other areas of the city centre to Aviva Studios.

The service stops on both Liverpool Road and Quay Street, close to the venue. Buses operate every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday and they are wheelchair accessible. For full details of the free bus 1 route and timetable, please visit the Bee Network website.

Bee Network services

Piccadilly Gardens is situated in the heart of Manchester and there are a number of bus services that will take you on to Aviva Studios. The 33 bus which starts at Shudehill, calls at Piccadilly Gardens and will take you straight to Liverpool Road. Services operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, you can board either a 35, 36 or 38 bus to Bridge Street bus stop which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

Coming into Manchester Victoria rail station? Head on over to Shudehill Interchange (which is a seven-minute walk via Hanover Street) where you can catch the 33 bus to Liverpool Road.

Alternatively, you can board either an 8, 67 or 100 bus from Manchester Victoria to Bridge Street bus stop, which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

There is a car park approximately 0.2 miles (350m) from Aviva Studios at Water Street Car Park, New Elm Rd, Manchester, M3 4JH.

There is also a NCP car park (Manchester Spinningfields) approximately 0.25 miles (400m) away from Aviva Studios at Spinningfields, New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BE. It has 35 accessible bays.

There are a small number of Blue Badge spaces along Water St and Quay St. Otherwise head towards Liverpool Road, Great John St and Lower Byrom St – close to our neighbours, the Science and Industry Museum where there are a small number of additional Blue Badge spaces.

For a list of other parking bays available in the area, visit Manchester City Council website.

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