The lease on ‘Britain’s coolest 1960s station café’ is up - and rail bosses say they are ‘open to any interest and innovation’.
The sweeping mid century design and curved wood of Manchester’s Oxford Road station has been described as ’one of the most remarkable and unusual’ in the country.
Said to be the city’s answer to the Sydney Opera House, the station was redesigned by architect Max Clendinning in the 1960s and remains one of Manchester’s most iconic buildings.
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But the ambitious design is not just limited to the station concourse, platforms and roof. The café - which is nestled on Platform 4 just past the ticket barriers - also features wood panelling and mid century features.
Northern - which runs the grade II listed station - is calling for proposals from anyone who would like to restore and run the little café.
Historian Tim Dunn says it’s a great opportunity for a business to create an ‘astonishing’ food and beverage outlet. “MANCHESTER! Want to restore & run Britain’s coolest 1960s station café?” he tweeted, while sharing a link to the Rightmove advert.
“The lease at @northernassist Manc Oxford Rd is up! Am sure @RailwayHeritage wld welcome chat about giving grant aid to restore original postwar features. Don’t let this chance slip by.
“Passenger numbers are rising & their desire for quality is too. With Pumpkin gone, you could work with @northernassist to create an astonishing F&B outlet in this iconic transport location. Someone in Manchester must have the vision… maybe it’s you.”
Tim suggests that the Railway Heritage Trust (RHT) - an organisation which provides grants to restore listed buildings on the Network Rail system - may be able to offer funding to restore some of the original features. Northern says this would certainly be the case as the building is listed.
“There is GRANT MONEY available to clever, thoughtful retailers to restore Britain’s rich railway architecture so it’s a better system for us *all* to use. Dozens of orgs work with @RailwayHeritage every year,” Tim tweeted.
Railway Heritage Trust say they provided a grant to Slice Pizza - which now sits in the kiosk by the station doors - and ‘they did a great job restoring the wooden shop fittings in their unit’.
The 65 square metre café was previously occupied by Pumpkin café, which closed during the Covid-19 pandemic and did not reopen.
The Rightmove listing specifies: “Proposals are invited by interested parties to improve the look and feel of the waiting room to align with their brand image, provided the minimum number of seats available remains for waiting passengers.”
Northern says it's a 'great opportunity for someone wanting to set up shop in the heart of Manchester and in one of the best stations out there’ and say they are ‘open to any interest and innovation’.
Oxford Road station first opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. Historic England says it is listed as it is 'one of the best post-war railway stations in the country, with a striking and highly elegant design constructed of laminated timber' and has a unique design which employs 'a high level of sophistication and innovation through its use of conoid shells supported on a cruck-like frame'.
The Pevsner Architectural Guide to Manchester describes Oxford Road station as ‘one of the most interesting and innovative buildings of the period’. Author Clare Hartwell says it is ‘one of the most remarkable and unusual stations in the country both for the architectural form and the technological interest’.
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