Hackney Arts Venue

Planning permission has been granted to transform three railway arches in east London into a new arts venue for film and dance creating a vibrant community hub in keeping with Hackney’s policy for Arts led regeneration.

The listed railway arches are a valuable legacy of London’s ‘roman’ Victorian infrastructure. We have preserved their unity and kept costs down, by devising a repeatable pattern for the steel and glass frontages. These will be windows onto the interior life of each arch, where a simple palette of architectural elements will meet different needs. The cinema foyer opens directly off the street, with the raked projection hall beyond. The dance space has a café and full width sliding folding doors to the dance studio. Tight control on expenditure and value for money are of prime importance for the investor client and require engagement and flexibility from us as designers to reconcile the ambition of the project with its modest budget and short timescale.