Coventry’s City Centre Cultural Gateway: Plans to Transform Former IKEA Building into Spaces for Art and Culture

Formerly home to Swedish meatballs everybody raved about and mock-up kitchens that doubled as your very own TV cooking show studio, the former IKEA building is posited as the new home of arts and culture within Coventry. Purchased by Coventry City Council after IKEA vacated in 2020, the City Centre Cultural Gateway aims to provide facilities including art storage spaces and a relocation for the Coventry Transport Museum.

Coventry University plans to house additional facilities for “research, innovation and enterprise” on the fifth and sixth floors of the building which will be used by researchers, students and the public

Lead by Coventry City Council, the £60m City Centre Cultural Gateway is also supported by other organisations such as Coventry University, Arts Council England, the British Council and CV Life. The latter already operates other “sport, culture and leisure” facilities in the city such as The Wave, Coventry Transport Museum and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and, like the British Council and Arts Council England, would relocate collections to the new space. Alongside the new Delia Derbyshire Building on campus, Coventry University plans to house additional facilities for “research, innovation and enterprise” on the fifth and sixth floors of the building which will be used by researchers, students and the public.

In March, the construction firm GRAHAM became the official contractor of the site after the former contractor, ISG, went into administration in Autumn last year. More recently, this month, new plans have been submitted to demolish the existing three-floor multi-storey car park which experienced recent weather damage and additional retail space has been added to plans for the ground floor. Using active frontage architectural principles aims to improve public access to mixed-use developments and results in “future proofing […] flexibility” for the building.

Also, the Coventry Transport Museum, or at least their off-site collection, now moves to the first floor of the plan, with the former building being earmarked for future developments – although, official plans for the current site near Pool Meadow Bus Station are unconfirmed other than reassurance that it would not be left abandoned. Simultaneously, the former 1960s Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre – colloquially “Cov Baths” – has also been empty since 2020 and faces demolition (excluding “The Elephant” extension which straddles Cox Street). This seems reflective of the same predicament facing the relocation of the Coventry Transport Museum with large community facilities being moved elsewhere in the city and the former locations lacking future plans.

This regeneration comes alongside the wider developments underway surrounding the Coventry Indoor Market and Bull Yard in the City Centre South plan. Other previous developments have focussed on the modernisation and pedestrianisation of the Upper Precinct, Broadgate and Friargate making the city centre easier to navigate and more focussed on visitors, so the City Centre Cultural Gateway project seems quite positive and hopeful given other successful redevelopments.

As a result, the City Centre Cultural Gateway project reflects positive investment in the creative and cultural arts despite claims from Conservative opposition that the project is a “flatpack fantasy”. The Labour council assures the public that the project is fully costed by partners, will “pay for itself” and would emphasise Coventry as deserving of the City of Culture title from 2021.

In the meantime, Coventry is home to many other spots for art-lovers including Far Go Village which regularly houses events and features independent shopping and dining including the Indie Mart

In the meantime, Coventry is home to many other spots for art-lovers including Far Go Village which regularly houses events and features independent shopping and dining including the Indie Mart. Equally, Coventry features other museums providing insight into local histories beyond the Coventry Transport Museum including the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and the Coventry Music Museum. The former is currently home to a cast of Dippy the Diplodocus from the Natural History Museum whilst the latter features exhibits from 2-Tone and local music scenes including the actual car used in The Specials’ Ghost Town music video.

Overall, the City Centre Cultural Gateway seems to provide a useful purpose to an otherwise underused space in the city centre of Coventry which will hopefully open in Summer 2026.