On Wednesday 4 November, our annual Hackathon returned to our Manchester office, bringing together planners, designers, architects and engineers for an evening of creativity, collaboration and friendly competition.
For the first time, we hosted the event in partnership with TP Bennett, with teams challenged to reimagine one of Manchester’s most distinctive but neglected heritage assets: the Grade II listed Hulme Hippodrome.
Our hosts, Chris Birch from Tyréns Hilson Moran and Leanne Wookey from TP Bennett, set the challenge: transform the Hippodrome into a resilient, ESG-led cultural and community destination, creating something that could benefit local residents while becoming an attraction in its own right.
Six teams had 90 minutes to develop their ideas and bring them to life using recycled materials and everyday objects before facing our four judges.
What followed ranged from sensitive adaptive reuse and community ownership to hanging gardens, beehives, waterfalls and, at one point, a very large hippo.
Group One: The Hip House
Group One introduced The Hip House, a musical reimagining of the Hippodrome as both a cultural destination and a place of social recovery.
Open mic nights, performances and community events would bring life back into the building, while accommodation and wellbeing facilities would help people rebuild their lives. Part theatre, part youth centre, the proposal explored how regeneration could provide social infrastructure as well as somewhere to visit.
Outside the building, bike hire, pedestrian-friendly streets and reduced traffic speeds would make the area safer and more accessible, connecting the restored Hippodrome more closely with the surrounding community.
Group Two: The Floral Junction
Group Two put Hulme’s existing character at the centre of The Floral Junction.
A community kitchen would create opportunities for training and skills development, while a museum celebrating performers associated with the Hippodrome would reconnect the building with its past.
The team also drew inspiration from the graffiti and street art surrounding the Hippodrome today. Arches and a reinstated arcade would provide opportunities to showcase local artists, while historic architectural details hidden or altered over the years would be uncovered and celebrated.
Crucially, the team didn’t see the Hippodrome in isolation. Their idea connected with the much-discussed neighbouring garden centre and other activity already taking place locally, imagining the different spaces as part of a wider cultural destination rather than competitors.
And yes, there were palm trees. A lot of palm trees.
Group Three: flexible spaces, greenery and Triple H Honey
Group Three took a more sensitive approach to adaptive reuse, dividing the building into three interconnected zones while retaining the existing theatre at its heart.
A food hall and central atrium would draw people into the building throughout the day, complemented by quieter spaces for reading and meeting. Flexible furniture would allow those same spaces to change character in the evening, hosting cinema, music, comedy and other performances.
Towards the neighbouring garden centre, a glazed winter garden would provide space for planting, events, exhibitions and creative uses such as recording studios. The team looked to Liverpool’s Granby Four Streets as inspiration for bringing new life to existing buildings through planting and community use.
Beekeeping across the roof would create the possibility of the team’s very own “Triple H Honey”, alongside green walls, food growing and opportunities for local children to learn about planting and biodiversity. A landscaped buffer would also help manage noise between the new activities and nearby homes.
The team’s model even evolved into something resembling a giant hippo, with its head projecting over a new public square to provide shelter from the Manchester rain. It was perhaps not the most conventional heritage intervention proposed during the evening, but certainly one of the most memorable.
