In Camden, Roundhouse has opened up a new fully accessible venue designed by Paddy Dillon architect, with Allies and Morrison and Reed Watts architects for creatives to learn, practice and perform.
We all know the Camden Roundhouse. Millennials will know it as a venue used for the iTunes Festivals in the noughties, older generations perhaps when The Doors played their first ever gig in the UK there, in 1968.
Owing to its success as a cultural venue, ‘Roundhouse’ (as the company that owns the venue is known) has opened up another venue: Roundhouse Works. Designed by Paddy Dillon architect and Reed Watts Architects, with Allies and Morrison, the new building boasts an ‘Inflexion Workspace’ – a place where creatives can work, able rent the space at affordable rates. Furthermore, members of Roundhouse Works will have access to workshops, networking events, and one-to-one membership from experts within the industry.
The building is also fully accessible and includes a ‘Space for Change facility’ as well as
four new studios: a new music studio; a triple height studio, specifically designed for circus and performance arts; a studio for creative workshops; and a studio dedicated for podcasting, being run by Transmission Roundhouse.
A nod to the main Roundhouse venue’s original function as a train turntable and shed, the façade of Roundhouse Works makes use of recycled railway sleepers. Sustainably sourced trees, meanwhile, have been used to form a cross-laminated structure, meaning more than 350 tonnes of CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere.
“We’ve worked hard to significantly reduce the embodied carbon in the building’s fabric with the internal timber structure and reclaimed, timber, railway sleepers on the façades,” said Matt Watts, director, Reed Watts Architects. “The result of this is a brilliant resource for Camden’s young people that wears its heart on its sleeve and that reflects our shared commitment to future generations as well as the site’s long association with the railway behind it. We’re excited to see it come to life over the coming months and years.”
As a result, and following the integration of solar panels on the roofs, electric vehicle charging points, LED lighting, automatic lighting controls, and other energy efficiency elements, Roundhouse Works has achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’, putting its environmental performance in the top 10 per cent of all new non-domestic buildings in the UK.
“Roundhouse Works comes out of hours of conversations to identify exactly what young people need. It’s a response to the Roundhouse site – but more importantly it tries to stay as close as possible to the spirit of the Roundhouse, and the young people who work there,” added Paddy Dillon. “It’s been a complete pleasure to work on this project, knowing this space will benefit tens of thousands of young people in the years to come.”
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