Background
Creating a new home for the creative industry in Edmonton.
We’ve worked with Enfield Council since 2018 to help convert a former VOSA building within their £6bn Meridian Water development, the project achieved PC in 2021. It was is the first building to be delivered within the major regeneration scheme and provides workspace for freelance designers, makers and small businesses.
The 30,000 sq ft workshop rehomes Building Bloqs which was established in 2012 in response to rising rental prices in London which creates acute challenges for small maker businesses. It is the largest open workshop in Europe and has over 300 members. The new space will allow the business to grow whilst providing £1 million worth of light industrial equipment for their members who work across engineering, wood, metal, digital and additive technology, paint finishing, and a fashion studio. There will also be new skills training facilities, a waterside café, gardens, a shop and event space all of which will be easily accessible to Enfield residents.
The construction project safeguarded 84 jobs and created an extra 200 over the lifetime of the construction. Enfield Council’s delivery of Meridian Water will ensure local people are the principal beneficiaries. It aims to provide thousands of affordable homes and quality jobs in Enfield as well new schools, community and health services, nurseries, shops and youth and leisure facilities.
The project won the Architects’ Journal’s Retrofit Award 2023 in the ‘Workspace under £5m’ category after impressing judges with its social and collaborative design approach and its contextual and ‘Continental’ flavour.
Our involvement included working on the installation of solar arrays. which is predicted to enable Bloqs to meet a third of their annual energy needs and is a giant step towards carbon neutrality.
