Hubs and HotHouses!
Today we had a lecture that was very helpful for my planning of my near future, both professionally and personally.
Due to the rather catastrophic state of the film and TV industry in Germany, in which the networks are extremely closed and careers are tied to TV stations with no interest of renewing neither their programme nor their contents, I was always a bit hesitant to going back. Whilst it would be a back-up solution for me regarding my family ties back there, the industry looks much more rosy in England. Even with Brexit round the corner, I will be more likely to make a living in the industry here than I will be in my native country. Even the ‘small’ Sweden is more accommodating than Germany in that regard. Which is something I need to take into account for my future, since housing and gaining ground after my graduation will be one major concern for me.
Regarding this, today’s lecture proved to be extremely helpful as it introduced an unknown concept to me: HotHouses and Hubs.
A General Introduction
Hubs or hothouses, as a ‘place (…) when there is intense activity, especially intellectual or emotional’ and hubs are creative centres that – depending on their mission, style and size – offer desks, galleries, offices and studio spaces, board rooms, and just meeting facilities in general. Some even come with so-called ‘live in’-solutions (aka apartments) attached to them.
These centres generally facilitate the entrance into the creative industries as they are not only relatively cheap compared to other (office) solutions on the market, but they also function as a networking community in which you can spread your wings already in an early stage.
Since earning my own living whilst hopefully entering the industry will be my major concern after my graduation, I thus conducted some general research on hubs within the UK to get a feel of my choices and what I am financially looking at, and I furthermore expanded my research into German and Swedish hubs as well (because you cannot be too long-sighted if you’re depending on your own in a different country).
Hubs and Hothouses in the North
The hubs and hothouses that I will discuss here for the sake of completeness have been presented to us by our lecturer and are – conveniently to us – based in the North of England. Looking at this already impressive list already in the North of England gave me a bit of hope in regard to my future, so I did a bit of research on each of these hubs and hothouses:
Bohouse (located in Middlesbrough)
Part of the Thirteen Housing Group, you can either apply for an unfurnished one-bedroom or two-bedroom solution with an integrated office, which will roughly cost between £440 and £584 with all utilities apart from gas, depending on size. However, applying there also means that you have to have a business plan ready for application.
Boho One (also located in Middlesbrough)
With Boho One, I encountered a couple of issues while researching as there was only sparse information and many dead links to be found. However, I found out that the former enterprise was extended by the so-called Boho 5, which is now the creative hub for more than 50 enterprises. However, here, they are also very sparse in their information about rental prices, as you can see in the image above.
Enterprise Centres Middlesbrough County (yup, you guessed right, Middlesbrough)
This page however, wasn’t very helpful as it was difficult to navigate and didn’t offer any information or solutions for creative businesses, which rendered it unattractive. Whilst you are able to fill out a form to apply, you don’t know what to apply for, since no information is been given and you are forced to do a cold application.
Python Gallery Studios (again, you’re right)
They offer office space and accommodation residence in Middlesbrough, but also in e.g. Manchester or Stockton on Tees. However, both seem to be separated and they are also very sparse in communicating rental costs. Furthermore, the office spaces they currently offer are much bigger than what I would need as a filmmaker, so I would personally refrain from that.
The Art House (‘Boro it is)
Sadly, when I followed up on this location to get a feel of the updated price range, I was met with a lot of dead links and property sites that had zero recommendations or reviews about this place, so I am assuming for now that this hub has closed down.
Biscuit Factory (located in Newcastle)
This solution sadly does not have any live-in accommodations, but instead offers studios, a café, and gallery space to drop in and network with other artists and filmmakers.
Brick Works (located in Newcastle)
Brick Works offer studio spaces 24/7 that can be obtained after application. This is a very generous application as the main requirement currently is ‘that the applicant works within the creative industries and is currently involved in their own practice or business for a significant proportion of their time.’
They offer both individual as well as shared office spaces and allocate their studios on a first-come-first-serve basis. The rent for these studios currently lie at £55 per week with all utilities apart from power, to be paid in advance in addition to a deposit of £220.
Cobalt Studio (again, in Newcastle)
This is a still expanding hub, hiring out studio spaces 24/7. However, here again, they are sparse with information on rental costs. However, they ominously seem to offer ‘an annual graduate studio residency at a reduced rent’, which would need to be investigated further.
Hoults Estate (yup, Newcastle)
Hoults Estate (or Hoults Yard) is a business village offering studio spaces, offices, and meeting rooms for artists. It advertises its ad-hoc-hire possibility, however, they again only refer you to an application form without so much as a rental price mentioned anywhere on the homepage.
36 Lime Street (again, you’re right)
36 Lime Street proved to be a massive surprise for me when I read that they currently offering to rent out a 5m2 office space for less than £60 PER QUARTER excl. electricity. Granted, it is a small office space, and the deposit of £500 comes at another surprise in comparison, but since I as a filmmaker don’t require much space in the beginning, this would be a balanceable offer for a start. However, the application process, which ends on 26 February, is massive, regarding the viewing, the paperwork, and the interview (!) in order to be able to obtain it.
Mushroom Works (yup)
Mushroom Works is maintained by the same group as Brick Works and currently offer 12 studio spaces. Whilst the application process here is identical to the one at Brick Works, they are sparse with information about the rental prices for their studios.
More Hubs and Hothouses
However, since I don’t like to be tied down to a place for too long, I decided to also look further into hubs in other cities. So I conducted a bit of research on online platforms promoting hubs such as e.g. Creative Europe (!), and I was surprised at the outcome. So far, the list above was extended to:
The Whiskey Bond (in Glasgow)
Many Studios (also in Glasgow)
Creative Edinburgh (no explanation needed)
HubSixtySeven (in London)
The Trampery Republic (also in London)
With these 5 solutions mentioned above, sadly, none of them offered a live-in solution, which will be a major issue to keep in mind. However, as you can glean from the images, the prices of desk space, office space, general access and membership vary between £85 for a desk and go as high as £245 for either your own office or a full membership with access of all areas, 24/7.
While I would love to say that I’ve lived in London one day, nothing is for sure. Since I am rather a cosmopolitan girl, I decided to look further and found the website to European Creative Hubs Network, which blew my mind, as this was showing all the hubs registered with them across the European countries, offering me a variety of countries to live and work in.
An impressive amount of creative hubs across the continent, eh? This does not only work for the creative sector, but also for e.g. the IT sector and can also be filtered down into more specific terms and art forms, such as film and filmmaking, for example. This website will then give you an alphabetically sorted list on the right side, furthermore allowing you to filter your search according to live-in solutions.
However, when I entered this filter, the results turned out to be much more meagre. This is something I have to keep in mind, as it will naturally raise the costs of living and working. In this case, I was furthermore interested in seeing what Germany and Sweden offered in that regard. However, as I sort of surmised in the beginning of my research (and this blog), the situation in Germany was bleak compared to the UK. For, there was none registered with Creative Europe.
However, even though Sweden only offered one hub, the location of this one was rather important, as it is located bang middle in the creative capital of Scandinavia: Transit Art Incubator in Stockholm, that also requires an entire application process behind it.
This was particularly interesting to me, since Transit offers a tenancy for 2-3 years within a community of artists that also puts an emphasis on filmmaking. In this community, networking events are held at least once per month, and individual projects are fostered and furthered with support from the directors of this hub, which gives more help and guidance for the first period after graduation.
Conclusion
As you have seen, there are a lot of options to choose from. And although the general rent (when advertised!) is much lower than you would expect from ‘normal’ office rents, one still has to be careful with the choices and the finances made. However, I think it a pity that the rental prices aren’t officially online, as this requires a lot of work on my part as a possible tenant to find out whether I can actually afford the places I want to be living and/or working in.
Live-in-choices, however, are rather sparse, which I can both understand and don’t. Whilst it might be more profitable for the hub from a financial point of view, I do think that the combined approach has more benefits for the artists (and, in turn, for the hub), if you create a co-living-co-working space in which you can always and easily access and network, even after hours.
Finally, comparing all these choices, the easiest and cheapest solution for me – apart from 36 Lime Street – would indeed be Bohouse, as it allows me to live and work for approx. £440 a month already, which is cheaper than what I have right now, with the bonus of having my own office space (aka business address) and a creative community to connect with.
References:
36 Lime Street (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://36limestreet.co.uk[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Brick Work Studios (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://www.brickworkstudios.com[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Cobalt Studios (2019) Studios [online] Images taken from: http://www.cobaltstudios.co.uk/studios[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary (2019) Hothouse [online] Accessed on: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/de/worterbuch/englisch/hothouse[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Creative Edinburgh (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://creative-edinburgh.com[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Creative Hubs (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: https://www.creativehubs.eu[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Hoults Yard (2019) Workspace: Ad-hoc Hire [online] Images taken from: http://www.houltsyard.co.uk/workspace/ad-hoc-hire/[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
HubSixtySeven (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://hubsixtyseven.com/?page_id=194[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Issuu (2019) Boho 5 Brochure [online] Images taken from: https://issuu.com/lovemiddlesbrough/docs/boho5_brochure/1?ff&e=6353776/30123758[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
ManyStudios (2019) Workspace [online] Images taken from: https://manystudios.co.uk/workspace/[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Middlesbrough Council (2019) Business - Enterprise Centres Accommodation Request [online] Images taken from: https://my.middlesbrough.gov.uk/en/AchieveForms/?form_uri=sandbox-publish://AF-Process-dd963f52-a471-4238-8ef1-7eda1679f08a/AF-Stage2b6d2c1b-184e-453e-a9e6-2d55e6ab57e7/definition.json&redirectlink=/&cancelRedirectLink=/&noLoginPrompt=1[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Mushroom Works (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://www.mushroomworks.com[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Python Properties (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: https://www.pythonproperties.co.uk/commercial-properties[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
The Art House (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: http://www.theart-house.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR11WoMPEE-cU9WXEZ-D8XREmrIsJba6GKVEGLknjnkzylqANT_BJM_8QaI[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
The Biscuit Factory (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: https://www.thebiscuitfactory.com[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
The Trampery Republic (2019) Workspaces [online] Images taken from: https://thetrampery.com/workspaces/republic/[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
The Whisky Bond (2019) Homepage [online] Images taken from: https://www.thewhiskybond.co.uk[Accessed on 4 February 2019]
Thirteen Housing Group (2019) BoHouse Costs and Bills [online] Images taken from: https://www.thirteengroup.co.uk/page/bohouse-costs-and-bills[Accessed on 4 February 2019]