The site of the venue was a previously derelict area below the Glasgow Central railway station, which was converted to house the exhibition "Glasgow's Glasgow" during the city's year as European City of Culture. In 1991, after the exhibition had ended, the space was obtained by Andy Arnold, who would become the venue's artistic director, for the purposes of creating a theatre. Realising that theatre productions required substantial funding, Arnold decided to stage nightclub events to support his projects, and this practice continued until the venue's closure, the clubbing revenues helping to fund what became one of Europe's leading cultural venues.