URN visits Stockroom in Stockport, Greater Manchester

09/06/26

Stockroom occupies a remodelled large retail unit in the Merseyway Shopping Centre in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Our visit coincided with a week of celebrations - it’s been a full year since they opened and this gave us a great opportunity to hear from Creative Programme Manager, Gwen Riley Jones, on her reflections on how it has gone so far. 

Stockroom is operated by Stockport Council and houses a library, a children's learning space, local archives, a cafe/bar, meeting spaces…with the invitation “to make noise, meet friends or find some peace, play, take part, think or do new things” (https://www.stockrm.org/about-us). It was funded through the UK Government's Future High Streets Fund and cost £14.5 million to remodel the existing retail units, provide new public wcs and refurbish the public thoroughfare between them. In the first year visitor numbers have exceeded expectations with well over 500k people visiting the space. 

Although Stockroom doesn’t call itself an urban room there are many similarities - most obviously through the programme of events which feature numerous activities and exhibitions that aim to engage local people in historic and contemporary aspects of Stockport. When we visited, a new exhibition was about to launch celebrating the legacy of local post-war artist Alan Boyson, including talks on the modernist architecture of Stockport. 

We were impressed by the welcoming nature of the space - visitors walk in from the pedestrianised shopping precinct, through generous sliding doors and straight into a bright colourful area with comfortable chairs, bookshelves and cafe tables. The entrance feels very open - there is no reception desk or obvious security presence - as we walked in we were greeted by one of the librarians and were invited to take a look around. Gwen explained that this openness, very different from other council buildings, goes to the heart of Stockroom’s ethos of accessibility. The team are keen to engage as wide a range of people as possible, with a particular focus on young people, and they want to make the Stockroom feel as free from institutional connotations as possible. This has been achieved through a lack of council branding on windows, and by using bright, colourful graphics and creative, playful furniture by local makers throughout. 

Reflecting on the first year Gwen explained how they had really benefited from the flexibility and adaptability of the ground floor spaces. Most of the furniture is moveable, much of it on wheels, and this has enabled the team to test different configurations for different events through the year. She also reflected on how important it had been to get buy-in and support from the senior leadership of the Council, not only in the funding and delivery of the project, but in its ongoing programming and operation also.

This is a really inspirational project that makes Stockport's vision of citizen co-creation, 'The Place That Makes Itself' visible on the high-street - an ambition that will resonate with urban rooms across the UK.