Chisenhale Works

Chisenhale Works was constructed in the late 1930s by Morris Cohen as a veneer factory, until it was abandoned in the 1970s. The existing building is formed from two adjoining blocks beside the Hertford Union Canal on a street of Victorian terraced houses, with Victoria Park to the north. The building has since been used as a brewery (now discontinued) and as studios for visual and performing arts. Studio Multi's proposal extends the building and reworks the existing structure to provide step-free access, affordable studio space and community facilities.

A colony of artists working in makeshift studios in Butler’s Wharf, Bermondsey were evicted in 1980 as the building was being converted to a luxury hotel, shopping and office development. The artists had to hunt round London to find another building that offered affordable space that was suitable for artists’ studios. They eventually found Chisenhale Works, which had been abandoned for a decade. When the dance studio that was also located in Butler’s Wharf decided to relocate to Chisenhale Works, they brought the sprung floor with them. The artists refurbished the building themselves, painstakingly replacing every piece of glass in the windows, starting from ground floor and working their way up the building. The glass was donated to the artists from a local company that had no use for it.

(Source: '40 years of Chisenhale' - YouTube film by founding member and interdisciplinary artist John Fuller)

The existing building will be upgraded with step-free access and new mezzanine floors to create additional floor space. A new extension building will house artists studios. The structure throughout targets low embodied carbon using engineered timber where possible.

Client: The Creative Land Trust

Structures: Whitby Wood

Cost consultant: Exigere