MULE: An interniew with Muj and Amelia Rana on their latest creative venture

23/08/2020

We met up with Muj and Amelia Rana (the masterminds behind Manchester’s coolest boutique, The Cow Hollow Hotel) to discuss their latest creative venture – our very own Mule. The day-to-night café meets cocktail bar (or something in between) will debut alongside Anco&co later this year, opening its doors to members and non-members alike. Expect coffee shop casual meets cocktail bar sophistication.

Expect industrial simplicity flecked with global accents of glamour; a clean, raw canvas as a backdrop embellished by the influence of travel and the meeting in aesthetic of its makers.

You’ve already brought us the iconic Northern Quarter Hotel, Cow Hollow. What inspired you to get into the hospitality industry?

Muj: “It was an acute career change for us both. We had vastly different day jobs, initially in London, and then in Hong Kong. I was working in finance and Amelia in marketing at a music label. We both had this huge love for architecture and design that had been fed through from where we had lived and travelled, and creating something in that field which could link to the consumer sector tied in perfectly with hospitality.”

Amelia: “Design was an instrumental element in us getting into the industry. Neither of us have a background in leisure and hospitality, which has perhaps aided us in creating something which doesn’t fit the standard formula. I suppose we both also have an eye for detail when it comes to hotels - we tend to dissect every part of a building’s design, operations and atmosphere when we enter it. Which factors work, which don’t. We like to think that we’ve collected influence from all of the places we have been, and that has helped us put it all together to create something completely unique.”

So tell us about the name “Mule”

Muj: “With Mule we didn’t want something that was too ‘pretty’ - it has to capture the aesthetic of Ancoats while also acting as a blank canvas that we aren’t going to pinned down by.”

Amelia: “Sometimes choosing a name can be quite limiting in the sense of creating a concrete brand. We don’t think of our style and décor in terms of permanence, we arevery open to keeping a sense of fluidity and adapting our style over the years as we continue to be influenced by changing tastes in travel, food and drinkglobally. I think that’s what Mule is all about, it doesn’t have to have a solid meaning, because it may change to mean something completely different and we welcome that.”

Will there be many similarities between Mule and Cow Hollow or should we expect something completely different?

Amelia: “Different, but with accents of the same. Whenever we approach a design, we always respond to the building itself, so with Cow Hollow being an old textile warehouse and Mule being a new building, they were never going to be the same. This is something we’ve definitely taken into account in the design process, we want to celebrate the modern features of the space, stripping it back just enough to embrace the simplicity, while also injecting our own uniqueness.”

Muj: “It will share some similarities with its wood tones, dark foliage, limestone and colour palette but will keep in tone with the industrial-meets-high-end style that is characteristic of Ancoats vs the hotel’s more Northern Quarter flavour.”

Mule is going to be both a café and cocktail bar. How will the space change from day to night?

Muj: “I suppose it will be both and neither. From our experience we don’t enjoy how abrupt the transition can be in many places that switch from day to night on the hour, taking the lunch menu from your hands and putting a dinner menu under your nose. We don’t think that it has to be so strict. The shift has to be gradual
and behind-the-scenes.”

Amelia: “We want the transition to feel natural - completely seamless throughout. The space has to be somewhere people want to stay for extended periods, we don’t want them to feel rushed or pressured into just having lunch there, or just a coffee meeting, or just a cocktail date. There’s no reason it can’t accommodate combinations of those things. It’s all in the little details, from reading the mood and adjusting the tempo of the music, the lighting, the candle placement, adjustments to the uniforms, even the types of flowers on the table. This is something Nico (the hotel’s customer engagement manager, and Mule’s future General Manager) has a very holistic view of. His strength in reading customers and adjusting the space to their mood makes the whole product very experiential. No two days have to be quite the same because the people there are not.”

We can’t wait to see what this pair of creatives bring to Ancoats, and we’ve a feeling it’s going to be wonderful. Morning coffee fix, after work cocktail spot, we can’t wait to meet you. Anco&co Members can expect exclusive discounts, on-your-doorstep benefits and community event partnerships.

Words by Kristiane Sulek