The White Building
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Refurbishment and conversion of a derelict 1950s warehouse in Hackney Wick into a new cultural centre incorporating studios, café, events and gallery space
Sat on the canal opposite the Olympic Park the derelict warehouse has been converted into an arts space for the arts and education charity SPACE Studios.
The building provides affordable studio space for artists and small businesses, a café and microbrewery with canalside seating, upgraded public realm, a flexible event space offering views of the Olympic Stadium and gallery space.
At ground floor level, carefully set-out blockwork walls give a cost-effective sense of permanence and the placement of steel-framed windows makes the interior feel like an outdoor space, an urban courtyard.
The new internal glazing echoes the existing exterior fenestration, reinforcing the idea of continuity between the canal side public spaces and the interiors. The ground floor was opened up to the canalside and Queen’s Yard to create a light-filled interior with visual and physical connections through the building.
At first floor level, red string netting supporting sheep’s wool insulation is strung between the existing red steel trusses. As a result, the first floor rooms are given new decorative vaulted ceilings and improved energy performance whilst retaining exposed structure and avoiding disturbance to the existing asbestos roof.
Five new entrances were created that allow the building to be used in a variety of different configurations, and external works included connecting the canalside to White Post Lane with new wide steps doubling up as auditorium seating.
Data
- Begun: Feb 2012
- Completed: May 2012
- Floor area: 695m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £550,000
- Tender date: Dec 2011
- Procurement: Traditional
- Address: The White Building, Unit 7 Queens Yard, White Post Lane, London, E9 5EN, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: David Kohn Architects
- Project architects: David Kohn, Tom McGlynn
- Client: London Legacy Development Corporation, SPACE Studios, CRATE
- Public-realm architect: MUF
- Sustainability consultant: Exploration Architecture
- Structural engineer: Alan Baxter & Associates
- Building services engineer: Capita Symonds Building Services Design
- Project manager: Capita Symonds
- Civil engineer: Stockley Associates
- Quantity surveyor: Sweett Group
- Main contractor: BRAC Contracts
- Graphic Design: Modern Activity
Suppliers
- Sheeps Wool insulation: Black Mountain Insulation
- Blockwork: Plasmor
- Glass supplier: Caplin Glass
- Metal windows: Monk Metal Windows
- External steel doors: Dove Steel Doors
- Metal Sign: PJ Signs
- Steelwork: Lemon Steel Services
- Hand-Painted Signage: Ornamental Conifer
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