Love Made Us Do It: How Sheila Bird Studio fell for 24–26 Lever Street, twice.

We can all relate to falling in love with a building, especially a heritage one. Sometimes it’s character. Sometimes it’s community. Sometimes it’s an invisible pull you can’t quite explain when you walk through the door.

For interior and brand design practice Sheila Bird Studio, that pull has always been 24–26 Lever Street. Situated in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, it’s a big old building with heart and soul, originally built in 1898 as a textile warehouse, and featuring a narrow frontage with piers, turrets, and shaped gables. Its personality is practically palpable. The team’s connection with the place started many years ago, and last year, when a studio relocation was on the cards, there was a sense that the right space had been under their noses all along.

In a recent chat, Jon Humphreys, creative director and co-owner of Sheila Bird Studio, shared how a long-standing relationship with this city-centre workspace brought them back, fuelled by passion and guided by the same values the studio upholds for its clients.

Designing for what happens after

“Designing with life and soul has always been central to how we work,” Jon explains. “And it goes deeper than aesthetics. It’s about acknowledging that the life and soul of a place happens after we’re finished. That mindset changes how you design a space.”

He adds, “Designers often talk about spaces as blank canvases. For me, it’s more like creating a garden or a petri dish, an environment where culture can grow. Your palette extends beyond materials and colours. People become part of your sample board. You think about curation and collision, creating situations where interesting things can happen."

Where culture took root

Back in 2006, Jon co-founded a company called The Neighbourhood, which specialised in placemaking storytelling for the built environment, including branding, CGI, film, and animation. Their ethos was simple: embrace collaboration and build a creative community.

“For the first three years, we shared an office with another Manchester company, Love Creative,” he recalls. “Co-working didn’t really exist, and most workspace options were grim, cheap, small, dingy rooms. Sharing was brilliant. We exchanged ideas, collaborated, and learned from each other.” The business grew from four to twelve people, and when it was time to find their own home, they were introduced to Atul Bansal, who managed 24–26 Lever Street for its owners.

“We met Atul through the building,” Jon explains. “His passion for the space was infectious, and we immediately connected and were both excited about the potential.

The top floor was fire-damaged, but underneath it had amazing natural features. Jon and the team fell in love with it and made it their home for eight years. Over time, their enthusiasm for the building attracted other creative tenants, and a unique culture began to form.

Years later, Jon and Atul would become business partners in Sheila Bird Studio, a partnership that grew out of their shared history with the building itself.

Curating a creative community

“Our Neighbourhood studio became a kind of showroom,” Jon explains. “People could visit and see the potential for the rest of the building, which wasn’t all in great shape. By carefully curating tenants, creative businesses like True North, Music, and Hyper Island moved in and a community emerged.”

Bit by bit, the building became more accessible. The rooftop overlooking Stevenson Square became a social hub, hosting events that brought people together.

“As a community, we did some magical things, like when True North transformed the building facade into a giant advent calendar, or Music putting a film grade snow machine on the roof to make it snow outside. Moments like that gave the building an energy and identity the belonged to the community.”

Coming back, full circle

Seven years later, after Covid reshaped the workspace landscape, and Jon and Atul had joined forces as Sheila Bird Studio, they were looking for a new workspace. Returning to 24–26 Lever Street felt natural.

“We’ve taken a space overlooking Stevenson Square with our own terrace. It’s so good to be back. The Northern Quarter has its buzz back, lively, interesting, and full of energy.”

Reigniting the building’s energy

“Building communities is so much part of what we do and how we think, like we have with our design projects at 86 Princess St, Campfield and Runway East. So we’ve started to see how we can help sow the seeds for a new chapter for this building again by injecting some new energy.

"We have helped Nomad, a new cafe, move in on the Ground Floor, which creates a much needed new social hub. We introduced our new neighbour to the building, Stephen Cunliffe and his specialist lighting company Lumenear UK (Partner at Material Source Studio). We helped them design their space, and they helped us with lighting ours. We met Stephen at Material Source Studio and we also have products from other fellow partners in our studio too: furniture from Vepa UK, paint from Crown, marmoleum from Forbo Flooring Systems."

Exchanging skills and services in that way embodies community spirit. That mutual support is what it’s all about.

The latest tenant, wellness brand Structure, adds to the building’s vitality. Jon reflects: “Since I first moved in 15 years ago, the workspace landscape has changed massively. Co-working and flexible offices now exist, but a lot of offerings feel bland and generic. What makes a places special is often people, cultural curation goes a long way in creating a place that has life, soul, and character.”

Buildings like 24–26 Lever Street always have more to give. They carry history, character, and the capacity to evolve with the people inside them. That’s why people fall in love with them again and again.

For Sheila Bird Studio, love really did make them do it.