The main building, 70 Oxford Street, was built for John Shaw in the early 1900s and was a furniture store run by the family until it closed in 1985.

The building on the other side of the approach to Oxford Road station was designed by Peter Cummings, was completed in 1934[5] and opened as a cinema, Tatler News Theatre, in May 1935.

[6][7] Cornerhouse was conceived by the Greater Manchester Visual Arts Trust, chaired by Sir Bob Scott.

[11] From March 2017 to August 2017, the vacant Cornerhouse Cinema building was squatted by the Loose Space Collective before being evicted.

Cornerhouse's contemporary visual art programme was dedicated to launching artists who had not received major institutional recognition in Britain.

A regular feature of its visual arts programme was international group exhibitions which explored socio-political concerns.

[n 2] In 1987, Dewi Lewis launched the Cornerhouse Publications imprint with A Green and Pleasant Land by John Davies.