Firm： Jan Kattein Architects

Type： Commercial › Office Pop-Up Hospitality + Sport › Bar/Nightclub

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2017

SIZE： 3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

BUDGET： $100K - 500K

Blue House Yard is a collection of temporary micro-workspaces fronting onto a new marketplace in Wood Green, shaped by collaboration throughout its conception, construction and stewardship.

Haringey’s economy is powered by small businesses. In the face of rising rents and scarcity of suitable workspaces, Blue House Yard is part of a family of temporary projects realised by Haringey Council to support these vital contributors to the borough’s economy (with funding from the Mayor or London).

We partnered with Meanwhile Space CIC to take on the design, delivery and operation of a defunct Council-owned office building and adjacent disused car park in August 2016. Taking a stake in the operational success of the scheme allowed us to make the most of a limited capital budget through a comprehensive approach to the spatial brief and construction strategy.

The Blue House itself houses 11 studio spaces for creative businesses, as well as a meeting space and a kitchenette for sociable working. Each of the sheds opens onto the central yard, allowing both retail and ‘messy’ making activity to spill outdoors. A new games café in a retro-fitted double-decker bus, community-built planters and weekend markets bring life to the yard throughout the week and night time.

We began by procuring a general works contractor to complete groundworks and to paint the existing building from top to bottom in a fresh blue as an early signal of changes to come. However, the use of accessible, timber frame construction techniques and additional training in site management allowed us to build the nine micro-workspace ‘sheds’ ourselves. We also drew on volunteer help from the local community, college students and future tenants to ensure that the construction process itself offered opportunities for learning, engagement and exchange.