Regent Studios Workspace

Achieving an impactful design at a low cost, this light-touch project repurposes a long-lasting, but carbon intensive, brick and concrete structure into a shared studio for small design practices. The project directly addresses the situation faced by many creative industry workers, where workspace is often rented with little freedom to make changes and limited tenancy security. The key innovation is that the space has been designed so that no alterations to the fabric of the existing building have been necessary. This model could be easily adapted for other locations – providing high quality and attractive spaces in previously under-used buildings. The scheme was delivered within just two weeks and for a very tight budget. A limited number of thoughtfully designed components pull the space together, creating a calm yet colourful studio that makes the most of it its 62m2 interior. Throughout, minimal interventions achieve maximum impact, from the simply painted walls and floors to a heavyweight curtain that divides spaces. A large open plan workspace sits alongside flexible areas for making, research and collaborative working. The standout feature is a family of specially designed modular CNC birch plywood storage elements. Used across the studio for bookcases and also an extensive sample library, the furniture is designed to be slotted together so that it can be reconfigured or adapted as the needs of the users change. The sample library, which also serves as a room divider, has slits cut into the shelves to make an interlocking design that creates a hierarchy between framing, horizontal and vertical elements, bringing a rhythm to the whole and allowing visiting clients to experience first-hand the materials that will be used for their projects.