Sankeys, Dance music venue in Ancoats, Manchester, United Kingdom
Sankeys was a nightclub housed in the Beehive Mill, a former industrial building in the Ancoats area of Manchester. The venue had multiple dance floors spread across several levels inside a raw brick and concrete shell, with a sound system built for deep, loud electronic music.
The club opened in June 1994 under the name Sankeys Soap, taking its name from the building's past life as a soap factory. It closed in 2016 after more than two decades as one of Manchester's most recognized spaces for electronic music.
Sankeys built a loyal crowd that traveled from across the north of England for its techno and house nights. The connection between the crowd and the DJs on stage gave each night a strong sense of shared energy that regular visitors still talk about today.
Sankeys closed in 2016 and no longer operates as a venue, but the Beehive Mill building in Ancoats is still standing and can be seen from the street. Visitors interested in Manchester's electronic music history can walk through Ancoats, where several other former industrial buildings from the same era remain visible.
During a renovation in 2006, around 50 tons of sand were brought into one of the upper rooms to create an indoor beach for the summer season. The sand was hauled up through the building's floors, which gave the room a look and feel that no other club in the city had attempted before.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
