Billed as Manchester's first hobby house, Altogether Otherwise is a community-led creative space in the NOMA neighbourhood, housed in a former disused printing works on Hanover Street known as the Avery building. It is built around the idea of doing creative things purely for enjoyment, offering an escape from results-driven routine. The space is home to a wide array of clubs that anyone can join, most of them free, ranging from wool weaving, pottery and woodwork to gardening, cooking and reading groups. Visitors can drop in to workshops and activities every day of the week, or even start their own club, in rooms that are constantly rearranged to keep things changing. Alongside the workshops, the building holds a curated library, a community garden, a venue space and an artfully run bar, and it hosts events including live music, dance nights and ceilidhs with food and drink. It also provides free rehearsal space for musicians through partnerships with local groups. The venture is the latest project from a creative urbanist behind a decade of neighbourhood-led work at NOMA, and it is run by the development company behind the wider district. Activities are often grouped into month-long themed happenings focused on areas such as growing, making or live performance. Located at 6-10 Hanover Street in Manchester's emerging Green Quarter, the hobby house positions itself as a welcoming, non-commercial space for making and meeting. Its blend of free workshops, bar, garden and events makes it an unusual hybrid among the city's venues. The project reflects a wider movement toward non-commercial, participation-led spaces in city centres, prioritising taking part over spending, and it forms part of the long-term regeneration of the NOMA district north of Manchester's core. Its rotating roster of free clubs and themed months is designed to keep the space feeling fresh, drawing regulars who return for different activities rather than a single fixed programme.

Type: Indoor Event Space

Address: 6-10 Hanover Street, Manchester, United Kingdom, M4 4BB

Website: https://www.altogetherotherwise.com