Coachwerks Opening Party

The bar has been built, the soup cooked and the mulled wine mulling. Time to open Coachwerks! For the first time we opened our doors to all who passed, got some live music together and had a pretty good, albeit chilly night.

Jono - amazing - turned up on the 16th with a list of stuff we can borrow. Helped us out with lighting and the PA and opened for us. What a guy!

Hot acapella from Oswalde, singing like she means business

Danny aka Laish & Rowan

Mark - singing like Leonard Cohen with a sore throat - wild!

And we had a sweet exhibition from Susannah Page - check her website out

The Building Festival Dec 08

The building festival was an amazing time for all the participants - I counted over 50 over the five days - some of whom stayed the full time and others who dropped in. We got more achieved than expected, but also gained a greater understanding of what is realistically achievable during such a project. The main activities completed were:
  • Coachwerks sign up
  • A good start made on Richard's space
  • Sound studio cleaned, painted and primed for electrical work, floor, insulation and equipment installation
  • Dark room roof up
  • Bar constructed
  • Materials collected from freecyclers
  • A great deal of philosophical development for the project - especially in terms of space usage

A large map I made has sticky notes with jobs on that people can take away with them.

The darkroom


On the day of the opening

View from Richard Hartnell's space

Build Up to Building Festival 2008

To make the sign big enough we projected it onto the boards Ian prepared and used masking tape to create a basic outline. I then systematically went over the tape the following day straightening everything up.

Once the paint dried, we got it up on the first day of the building festival.

Echo sound design lending a hand on the roof.

Ana & Sofia painting the last wall to get painted.

We feed everyone!

Ana busy on the shutter doors.

Peeping Tom Productions "Carne"

Peeping Tom used Coachwerks for two weeks to film Carne, directed by William Ranieri, produced by Daniel Fawcett and written by Dan Childs.




BUILDING FEST INFO

Coachwerks Building Festival 11-16 December 2008
THE PLAN

Aims : to build partitions, to build our social space, to fix plumbing, electrics, waterproofing

More aims : to meet new people, to share skills and good meals, to get a party together for the 16th

* * *

WHERE : 19 Hollingdean Terrace, Brighton, BN17HB Google Map

CONTACT : Graeme, 07952065556 graeme.walker@werkshop.org.uk

WHEN : 11 - 16 December, 2008

TIMES : 10am - 9pm

ESSENTIALS : warm clothes (really really warm clothes) that you don't mind getting dirty - safety/protective clothes as required (we have a limited supply of these)

IF YOU HAVE THEM : if you have specialist skills and are able to contribute directly to carpentry, electrics, plumbing, please bring your appropriate set of tools. We have a fair amount of basics, but if you have specialist equipment, it will make our job easier and quicker.

WE'LL PROVIDE : endless tea/coffee/water, sugary/salty snacks, a simple lunch, a hearty evening meal. Food will be vegan, basic, but filling.

If you wish to stay over, please bring a tent and appropriate camping equipment - remember, you will be pitching on a solid concrete floor and it's COLD!!! I will make porridge in the mornings for campers.

CHILDREN : Are welcome at the party on the 16th. There will be a lot of noise, dust and potentially dangerous equipment in use during the festival.

FACILITIES : improvised kitchen, two toilets, a sink

PARKING : it won't be possible to park in or outside the space during the festival. Please try to come by public transport, bike or by foot. If you've got lots of equipment, it might be a good idea to drop it off and find a parking space in the neighbourhood.

CATERING : can you help cook? please get in touch


* * *
That's it! I can't think of anything else at the moment. Please get in touch if you've got ideas/additions to this list.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Graeme x

Monday 10.11.08

A very dark day today. And cold. Ian spent most of it in the space assembling the sign, which I hope to have prepared within a couple of weeks.

Volunteer Day 28.10.08

In a burst of late October sunshine, Faye gets busy painting the new entrance to the dark space.


I'm getting the boards primed for painting our lovely Coachwerks sign for outside.


Here's my concept for what it will look like on the outside - except I think we're going to make it with a solid background because it's easier and will be stronger.

David has made a good start on Javi's sound recording space - it's really starting to get quiet in there!

The Coachwerks Building Festival!

Oh boy! There's so much that needs to be done! Think of it like a fancy painting party... Taking our tip from the successful Star & Shadow Cinema building fest in Newcastle, we're inviting everyone to come and help sort the space out together. We'll provide space to camp, food and materials, you provide the skills & love! Just turn up or send me an email to get on our contact list for updates. There'll be music, art, making things, coming up with ideas, getting resourceful and drinking mucho tea! You don't need to have skills, maybe you'd like to learn some, or if you do, perhaps you can guide others. Everyone is welcome!

COACHWERKS JOB LIST

Entrance

1. Drainage at entrance - deeper gutter drilled in concrete beneath roller shutters to drain water towards drain. Drain to be excavated, vegetation removed. Water channels in large studio to be filled in with cement and the drain where they lead to, to be cleaned out and perhaps covered.
2. Shutter - paint and fill in gaps
3. Coachwerks & No Parking sign finished
4. Entrance cleaned and made beautiful


Large Studio

1. General draught exclusion - fill in gaps
2. Polythene on roof to temporarily stop water coming in
3. Stage flooring and pit covers in large studio
4. Two studios built next to cabin
5. Window next to cabin reglazed
6. Double doors between large studio and studio units
7. Upright girders painted
8. Ceiling painted
9. Insulation


Studio Units

1. Skylights
2. Sound studio finished
3. Inside wall of new entrance painted
4. Studio partitions built

Social

1. Kitchen to be built, possibly extended into lean-to beyond side exit [currently sealed]
2. Shower
3. Bar
4. Stage
5. Screen & sound
6. Sleeping

Promotion

1. Flyers printed & distributed locally and throughout Brighton
2. Media contacted for opening

Volunteers

1. Volunteer log put together

Building Festival

1. Artworks
2. Music
3. Warmth
4. Projections
5. Refreshment
6. Shelter

We need responsible people who want to organise certain areas of the programme, people with skills, people with enthusiasm and above all, people who love it and want to see it happen!

Contact me for any info. Click here for contact info.

Volunteer Day 21.10.08

Great! We've got the side entrance plastered up and ready to paint once it's dried.



Some nice decorations happening on the main entrance (I'm going to be constructing/painting the sign for the outside soon. We've also been cleaning out the kitchen and started to make something of that...






























David has also made a start on building partitions - we're beginning with what will hopefully be a sound recording space and working our way north!

Plans In Progress


Plans in progress

  • Coachwerks is 4,000 sq. ft.
  • There is a yard, a very large studio (approx. 1,800 sq. ft.) and a slightly smaller area that is already partly partitioned.
  1. We are still working out how to partition the space. What we have so far is that there will be studio/workshops, a project space for large scale works (eg. film production) and a social space
  2. The space, although cheap for Brighton, is still quite expensive, so we need to be creative in how it is paid for. Studio/workshops will be priced per sq. ft. and the large studio by the day. The social space will pay for itself through a diverse programme of workshops, events, cinema, community kitchen etc. What would be great is if large events can pay for the ongoing smaller things. Guideline pricing (negotiable): Studio/workshops = £1 per sq. ft. per month. Large Studio = £50 - £120 per day
  3. It's not really about the money. Werkshop is a social enterprise. We want to make enough money to live off, because what better job is there? But a large proportion of any profit goes right back into the project. Our aim is to be sustainable, to do work where we want, earning a living doing what we love most. Likewise, the more love you put into making this project yours and shaping it to your needs, the more you'll get out of it too.
  4. This is a project with intent. What is a social space? What are studios? What is the community? Each is a question to be answered by you. We have our intentions you have yours.
  5. Our aim is to find compatibility, cooperation, collaboration between us; to have affordable space that has value and meaning; to be open to dialogue, sustainability, action and dynamic experimentation.

Do you have something to add? Contact us.


Click image for larger size.

The above plan has West at the top, not North. In the large open space there are large windows on both the East and South walls, as well as skylights over the entire ceiling, so the natural light is excellent. The West space will be subdivided more easily and will probably make attractive studios once we've installed skylights and partitions there.

Coachwerks Gallery

Volunteer Weekend One 18-19/10/08

Fridays and Saturdays are volunteer days - at least for now. We met Emily (below) who helped paint the outside wall.

Meanwhile... I got ready for the hot pressure washer! It didn't really do the business on the floor, so the hire company gave us a 1500 psi cold wash one for the weekend which was much better.

Ben Collier came and helped out with the floor washing too.

And after it was done it was all glistening and lovely!

See you next weekend!

Help spread the word

paste this into your email lists

- -

The Coachwerks is a large (4,000 sq. ft) ex-bus garage in Hollingdean, Brighton. We have acquired the lease for it and now we need passionate and excited people to come and help build it, occupy it and make it into an amazing creative community. At present the rent is super cheap, there's no waiting list, you'll be surrounded by dedicated and amazing people. The space is to be mixed use and will appeal to people who want to make things, make things happen and work with and around people. We want a cinema club, a bar, project spaces, kitchen etc. It all has to be built! We have the materials, you have the skills! Check the website. Get in touch. www.coachwerks.org.uk

The Beginning of The Beginning!

This is the first blog post on our new website!

Well, the Coachwerks has begun. To bring you up to speed...
Back in December 2007, I got involved in The Werks painting & decorating on the top floor, which Ian and James then asked me to run a project on. I called it The Werk Rooms, but because of the kind of building it was (and still is - offices), it was just too expensive for arty people and never really kicked off. Eventually, they needed the money to keep The Werks going and I had to finish up. Fast-forward to late June 2008 and Ian found a space near where he lives in Hollingbury, Brighton - known locally as Five Ways. A few weeks later and the Coachwerks was born.

It's an old coach garage built in 1934 or so and was in the family until the Werks took out the lease on it. It's a great space, full of potential and cheaper than The Werks, so it'll appeal more to the arty crowd.

And now we're in the dreaming phase, getting loads of ideas, planning and trying to meet people to make things happen. I'm doing a lot of painting and general cleaning, but there's an amazing amount to do - please contact me if you're up for a bit of volunteering! We've also got the builders in who are building some new block walls to improve security and hopefully they're going to do some work next to improve the dampness - there are a few broken skylights letting water in and there's quite a lot of greenery along one of the side walls, which is causing damp to come through.

I'm working quite a lot on getting the portacabin in the space together - painting it up and generally making it a nice space to be in. Once it's painted, I'm going to get all my Bookville resources in there, so people can start using the space creatively.

One important thing that needs to happen is promoting the space. I feel like this is best done by doing things there and showing work. I'm planning an exhibition soon, which will hopefully coincide with other events happening.

It's still quite up in the air at the moment what is going to happen over all in the space. No final decisions have been made, which means that the project is still very flexible and open to suggestions. I'd like a recording studio to happen and perhaps a small radio station and am in talks about that already. I'd also like a small kitchen/bar, where people can eat and drink for a very reasonable price.

Please contact me with any ideas or enthusiasm!

G 02/10/2008





The space when we got there - August 2008.