Storyhouse

You can put a 14-person board meeting, a 140-seat conference and an 800-seat awards night under one roof in Chester city centre, with hire prices published from £30 for the smallest room and lift access to every floor. Storyhouse is a charity arts centre on Hunter Street, a few minutes on foot from Chester Town Hall and the cathedral, and it lists five spaces for private hire, from a library meeting room to its main theatre. The venue says the building opens seven days a week and that hire income goes back into its charitable work.

The building combines the city library, two theatres, an independent cinema and a restaurant. Its wedding brochure says the newer architecture was built around the original 1930s art deco Odeon, and the Garret spaces sit in a glass and copper rooftop extension with views over Chester.

Event spaces and capacities

Storyhouse publishes five hire spaces. The largest is Storyhouse Theatre, which seats up to 800 on the hire page; the venue’s access guide gives up to 816 seats in its proscenium layout and up to 461 in thrust, and the wedding brochure says 400 or 800 depending on the time of year, because the auditorium changes shape through the season. The Garret Theatre is the flexible option, with raked seating for 140 or room for 200 standing. No floor areas or banquet and classroom figures are published, and no exhibition space is listed.

The Meeting Room, on the second floor inside the library, seats up to 14 and has a TV fixed in place for presentations; hire starts at £30. The Garret Bar seats 40 or holds 50 standing, from £50. The Garret Theatre has a large presentation screen ready to use and starts at £80. The cinema seats 92, starts at £220 and must be booked at least eight weeks ahead. The main theatre starts at £3,400. For weddings, the brochure also lists The Kitchen, the ground-floor restaurant, as a ceremony space for 90 guests and gives the cinema as 90 guests in that format. Capacities and prices as published by the venue on its Hire A Space page, checked 10 November 2026.

Getting there and parking

You can bring delegates in by train without arranging transfers: Chester station has direct services to Cheshire, Wales, Manchester, London and Merseyside, and the venue puts it 17 minutes’ walk away. Chester Bus Interchange is a six-minute walk, with buses from Liverpool, Ellesmere Port and Wrexham. Storyhouse has no car park of its own. The nearest is New Market Parking (CH1 2AR), about 200 metres from the nearest exit and with eight disabled bays, and Delamere Street car park is the other one the venue names. Chester’s Park and Ride runs every 12 minutes with free parking and a £2 adult return. Blue Badge holders can park free for up to four hours on Hamilton Place and Goss Street, about 300 metres away. Much of the surrounding area is pedestrianised with narrow streets, so plan deliveries and set-up vehicles with the hire team.

Catering, AV and accommodation

The Kitchen, the in-house restaurant, serves seasonal, locally sourced food and is open from 9am to 8pm daily, and the wedding brochure describes buffet menus from the same team. The venue does not publish a meetings menu, day delegate rate or policy on outside caterers. On AV, it lists a fixed TV in the Meeting Room and a large screen in the Garret Theatre; the theatres and cinema have hearing loops or sound enhancement headsets. There are no bedrooms on site. For access, the whole building is step-free by lift, the main entrance on Hunter Street has a ramp and push-button automatic doors, there are accessible toilets on every floor with a Changing Places toilet on the ground floor, and assistance dogs are welcome throughout.

What to ask before you book

• Which layout will Storyhouse Theatre be in on your date, and how many seats does that leave you (up to 461 in thrust, up to 816 in proscenium)?
• Can the Garret Theatre and Garret Bar be booked together, so your conference has a breakout or drinks space on the same floor?
• What the “from” prices of £30 to £3,400 include, and what technician, front of house and late-finish charges apply on top?
• Whether the cinema’s eight-week minimum notice applies to daytime presentations as well as private screenings.
• Where vehicles can load and unload, given the pedestrianised streets and the lack of an on-site car park.
• What The Kitchen can supply for a conference lunch or reception, and whether outside caterers are allowed.

Related on Events Review

• Unusual event venues across the UK
• Conference venues in Liverpool
• Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool
• Curve, a theatre in Leicester
• Sheffield Theatres
• Mayflower Theatre and Studios in Southampton
• Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff
• Watershed, a cinema venue in Bristol
• Phoenix, a cinema and arts centre in Leicester
• Choose the venue around the event, not the headline capacity
• Turn venue accessibility claims into a usable event plan

Sources: Storyhouse Hire A Space, wedding brochure, Your Visit, Access and access visual guide, checked 10 November 2026.