Hot House Life
Squeezed between the main line out of
Liverpool Street and London Fields, the
Hothouse is a new center for public art
on a narrow brownfield site and adjacent railway arches in Hackney.
Liverpool Street and London Fields, the
Hothouse is a new center for public art
on a narrow brownfield site and adjacent railway arches in Hackney.
It provides new headquarters for Free
Form Arts Trust, offices and flexible studio
spaces, facilities for training, archive
spaces and live work studios
for artists; and the roof of the building also provides a large terrace for displays and events.
Form Arts Trust, offices and flexible studio
spaces, facilities for training, archive
spaces and live work studios
for artists; and the roof of the building also provides a large terrace for displays and events.
Although due to cut of the funds, no more charity based - public activities are being held there.
Click here to watch Hot House Life Video courtesy of AshSakula Architects
The Interior halls are designed open plan, no division walls are made to separate the working spaces and desks. This causes a unique working environment that allows a lot of companies collaborate together and share their ideas.
Hot House History
"The site had a large finking the remaining houses on Richmond Road and its most recent use was a scaffolding yard. Big oil tanks remained under the yard from when it was used as a taxi filling station. The site included strips of land to either side of the twin viaducts and the clients bought some of the site leased the rest from railway. Free Form Arts worked with light and paint to take back the gloomy spaces from the burnt out cars and dead pigeons." Statement of how the space was previously inhabited by Ash Sakula Architects.
Image of the site history courtesy of Ash Sakula Architects
The abandoned arches and those wasted spaces under the train tracks are now transformed to work spaces and studios and are being used by little businesses
Image of transformed arches and the housed current businesses
The whole ethos of the Hot House is a friendly approach to the environment, all the companies housed there are very green and are involved in environmental friendly activities in a sense. From Jerry Tate Architects who recently were on Grand Designs for designing 'Hoo House' a low energy home in Suffolk, to Eluna, a firm housed in one of the arches, who design building material made of 100% recycled glass.
developed by Free Form Arts Trust
The Hothouse has also attracted the work of the Artist Maggie Ellenby who, inspired by the architects winning idea of viewing the site from the train set up phrases such as 'Breathe out...' and 'Had a nice day?' on the rooftop of the Hothouse for the hundreds of commuters who travel in or out of Liverpool Street Station.
Courtesy of AshSakula Architects
Surroundings
The Building is long and narrow and wraps like a boomerang along the park boundary. On the park side a continuous glass window is sandwiched by two brick walls which are covered by green plant layers to keep the building invisible from a viewer's eye in the park.
On the other side - Rail way side staggered brick panels with tall slot windows protect the building from noise and vibration.The Building has a different jagged form on the railway side which reflects the industrial character of its surrounding, compare to the soft curve form on the park side which is quite coherent with its organic and natural environmental context.
Light
The natural light flows into the interior spaces especially from the park side. The light and shadows caused by the round windows create some playful shapes and patterns inside.
The lighting on the ceilings are designed in lines that round inside. And the building shines when day light turns dark, the interior lighting flows out through the window, creating the effect of a warm, inviting space, a theme which continues throughout the building.
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