Fac 51 The Haçienda
Ben Kelly is an interior designer based in London, initially working within the fields of retail and leisure. He established his reputation producing innovative spaces including three seminal buildings for Factory Records: the legendary night-club The Haçienda, Fac 51; a continental-style bar Dry, Fac 201; and the Factory headquarters, Fac 251, in Charles Street.
Fac 51 The Haçienda
For The Haçienda, his first project for Factory, opened in May 1982, Kelly created a stark three-dimensional version of Factory Records’ visual aesthetic. The cavernous space was painted in blue and grey tones with an emphasis on the diagonal and vertical, with ‘hazard’ stripes painted on columns. The space was both flexible and dynamic with visual compositions of colour and texture everywhere. Directional and warning markings created an inside/outside tension – bollards and cats-eyes demarcated the dance-floor. A set of enigmatic codes allowed patrons to engage in design as never before: neon bar signs referenced notorious British spies and from outside, the only clue to what lay within was the granite nameplate with the hand-carved legend ‘Fac 51 The Haçienda’, inlaid with silver leaf and red enamel paint.
Fac 51 The Haçienda
Fac 201 Dry
After the success of The Haçienda, Factory Communications became unofficial figureheads for the regeneration of Manchester’s city centre. A frequent request from fans and patrons was for a place to go prior to clubbing, and so Dry 201 was conceived, opening in July 1989. Sited in a vast, steel-framed building on Oldham Street and occupying the entire ground floor, Dry 201 boasted a 24 metres bar of slate and steel – the longest in Manchester. The design contrasted old and new with ‘found objects’, including a red plaster curtain – a hint of the bar’s past as a furniture warehouse – playing a theatrical part in an otherwise functional scheme.
Fac 201 Dry
Fac 251 The Factory Headquarters
The Factory headquarters, Fac 251, opened in 1990, were located in a disused textile warehouse on another run-down site in central Manchester. Despite the structure being virtually rebuilt, the original brickwork was retained and was boldly featured in the design. A full-height entrance with raised lintel, a bespoke metal gate and Kelly’s trademark glazed bricks visually connected the dedicated functions of each floor: warehouse, office, boardroom. Original features were juxtaposed with contemporary and appropriated materials: floorboards were recycled as wall panelling, I-beams were saturated with paint, while glazed, industrial bricks and blue glass added planes of intense colour. Most dramatic of all, the zinc-clad staircase bulkhead emerged into the top-floor boardroom like an oversized industrial conveyor belt. The building was awarded first place in the 1990 Pantone European Colour Awards for use of colour in architectural/interior design.
Fac 251 The Factory Headquarters
