The White Building

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.