| O2 Victoria Warehouse | |
| Mapframe: | no |
| Former Names: | Victoria Warehouse |
| Location: | Trafford Wharf Rd, Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England |
| Opened: | 2012 |
| Operator: | Academy Music Group |
| Capacity: | 3,500 |
| Website: | https://victoriawarehouse.com |
| Coordinates: | 53.4643°N -2.2849°W |
| Renovated: | 2009 |
| Built: | 1925 |
The O2 Victoria Warehouse is a live music venue in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The venue is made up of two storage warehouses used during the early to mid-20th century. It was redeveloped as a music venue in 2012 and given its current name in 2018.
The venue is on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal in Old Trafford, behind a stone quay.[1]
The premises began construction in the 1920s by the Liverpool Warehousing Company as a storage facility for the city, with the two warehouses opening in 1925 and 1927, respectively.[2] The site covered .[3] It was later used for food storage, before being largely destroyed by fire in 1980.[4]
In 1982, a mural by Walter Kershaw was drawn on the storage buildings, showing the industries in Trafford Park, as well as players from nearby Manchester United F.C. It was replaced with a second mural on 1 November 1993, also by Kershaw, featuring updated images. The mural had to be temporarily dismantled in 2006 over health and safety concerns.[5] The mural was subsequently renovated and restored, before being removed again in 2014.[6] [7] The site was purchased by developers in 2009 and the buildings reconstructed with modern facilities. It opened on 8 April 2012, and acquired a wedding licence in August 2015.[8]
On 14 May 2015, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, gave a speech at the venue entitled "Building a Northern Powerhouse" and covered the government's proposed redevelopment of cities in Northern England.[9]
The venue was renamed the O₂ Victoria Warehouse as part of a longstanding deal between Live Nation Entertainment who own Academy Music Group, and O₂.[10] [11]
The venue has attracted several major music artists, including Thom Yorke,[12] Sam Fender and Lizzo.[13]
In October 2019, following noise complaints at the nearby Bowlers Exhibition Centre, a representative from Academy Music Group said that all Victoria Warehouse events are attended by an acoustic engineer monitoring noise levels, and that they received no direct complaints.[14]