Made in Erith / The Engine House Bexley

The Engine House provides studio and workshop space for small businesses and entrepreneurs. CarverHaggard worked with them to transform the building on a tight budget, opening up the ground floor to create a new workshop and social spaces, including a studio with new digital fabrication equipment. Made in Erith is a new high street showcase for local makers and small businesses. Here, CarverHaggard created a showcase for local makers to display their products in a prime town centre location, in a formerly a vacant unit in the Riverside Shopping Centre. The project also includes office space for a local employment agency. The products are displayed on a purpose-made ‘pegboard’ system of grooved panels with timber dowel shelf supports, which was fabricated using the new facilities at the Engine House. The shopfront has a fascia of perforated metal with bespoke signage, and an internal plinth of terrazzo recalling Mitchells department store, which was a key local landmark at the heart of the old high street.