World's largest curry house opens as 'great pyramid' of Britain is transformed (2025)

A huge steel pyramid in the UK has been transformed into the world’s biggest curry house. (Image: Getty Images Europe)

The deserted “Great Pyramid of Stockport” in Greater Manchester, which has sat abandoned for eight years, has been given a new lease of life. The 86,000-square-foot site has been transformed into the world’s biggest curry house in a £15 million redevelopment.

When it opens, the huge restaurant, which will be operated by chain Royal Nawaab, is expected to serve up to 1,500 diners at a time across multiple floors. A 360-seat restaurant and buffet cover the ground floor, with seating for a further 680 available on the floors above, as well as an office and storage space. The iconic blue building, which sits next to the M60, previously housed Co-op Banking until 2017.

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Construction commenced in 1987 and was completed in 1992. (Image: Mirrorpix)

It was initially intended to be a “signature building” within a larger development scheme that originally included multiple pyramid-shaped buildings. Construction commenced in 1987 and was completed in 1992. It went through another period of abandonment - between 1992 and 1995 - before the Co-op occupied the building.

Several failed development projects near the site and the Co-op’s near collapse in 2013 led to a superstition that the site was “cursed.” Eventually, in 2018, Co-op Banking relocated to One Angel Square in NOMA in Manchester city centre.

The steel-framed pyramid earned its nickname after musician Antony Szmierek named his 2025 song The Great Pyramid of Stockport.

According to The Sun, it was once dubbed the “eighth wonder of the world.”

The restaurant is already said to have held its debut, hosting a wedding last weekend. It is set to open to the public in a few weeks. According to the restaurant’s social media, it is taking bookings starting this month.

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The mega-restaurant is expected to employ at least 150 people. New pictures show the walls decorated with bright artwork, gold-coloured furnishings, and dozens of unusually shaped lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. A company spokesman said customers could look forward to "a level of luxury and uniqueness never before witnessed.”

The founder of the curry chain, Mahboob Hussain, told the BBChe was “thrilled” to be granted planning permission for the transformation in 2023.

He added: “I liked taking on this challenge and after working on a historical building in London. I'll be proud to have this as a Royal Nawaab. There were a lot of challenges we came across because it's a different shape of a building, but it's interesting.

“That's why it's called iconic and is a historical building. We've had some issues, but we've resolved them, and now we're nearly there.”

Royal Nawaab already has restaurants in Perivale and Ilford and prides itself on providing an “unrivalled dining experience”.

The restaurant typically charges £28.95 for an all-you-can-eat buffet for anyone above the age of 11.