We've been getting busy this week with a couple of fat projects: making a start on the new kitchen and cleaning up the Small Studio and back yard. Loads of people have showed up which is great, loads of energy - it's all happening! Has anyone ever seen the back yard look so clean? Getting started on some new curtains for the space too!
--- BBQ Menu skewers organic chicken, lemon, orange and garlic organic lamb, red wine and rosemary marinated smoked tofu --- all served with quinoa salad and barbequed veg --- £5 ---
Join us for a big and beautiful gathering of loveliness as we light up the barbeque for some top organic grub, crack open a few icy beers and doze off to some chilled out music in the afternoon heat. We're celebrating the start of the summer, the end of volunteer week and all the new things that are to come. There'll be short films, comfy seats, open studios and all our wicked people around to show you a good time.
£3 entry (includes year membership) *free* for volunteers
We need your help! We're trying really really hard to get Coachwerks nicer and a better place to be. In April we got some money to make a new kitchen, so we've got to knock down the old utility room and get rid of the rubbish. While we're at it, we're going to clear out the back yard and make the space a bit more ship shape; a lick o' paint here, a dab o' varnish there. We welcome anyone who'd like to come and help us out in any way whatsoever. Come and bring your old clothes, any construction tools you've got (electric screwdrivers, hammers etc, all labelled with your name) and we shall supply you with good times, friendly people, fun stuff to do and endless cups of warm brown liquid, known as tea. (milk, sugar optional).
And at the end of it, on Saturday the 10th, to celebrate it all, we're having a party and you're all invited. There'll be music and a BBQ and and and, all sorts of great things.
Yeah? Yeah!
See you there.
Coachwerks Volunteer Week. 6-10 July. 10am - 8pm daily (except Saturday, which is really just the party day and that starts around 5 or 6pm) - for more info please contact claire_wearn{at}yahoo.co.uk
A really productive day was spent clearing up after the winter hibernation had caused a bit of a pile up. Alex rented a van and we sorted out the front yard and some of us later on waded into the back yard too. Then we had a big fire. Later on there was Stray Signals with lovely music by Michael Mclinn check out the Stray Signals site here for upcoming stuff.
A unique opportunity to get out of the house and embark on your own creative adventure in Brighton's only purpose built writing studio.
We're looking for five focussed individuals ready to participate in the building, development and enjoyment of this ridiculously wonderful thing. Bring your own work, build your own projects, collaborate with others or just knuckle down to that novel you need to finish.
The Light Room - 6 month plan
5 permanent bespoke work stations for creative writing/journalism/publishing/projects/planning
Participatory/building/collaborative work - loose coupling
includes small coworking space & quiet room/library/easy chairs
flexible, changable, adaptable space, tailored to suit current needs
Alex is making good progress on the bread oven. Using a mix of clay he dug from a local allotment and sharp sand, he's created an inverted template, around which he'll build the oven structure.
A huge mound of insulation, cut to size to fit in between the ceiling joists. We got a good deal from B'nQ on "Space blankets", cut them down to size and wedged the plastic in around the mineral wool to stop bits from falling. Certain excitable people can never resist a camera ;)
Time to get composting! I ordered a few compost bins a while back, but mostly because of the yard being full of stuff, haven't gotten to do anything with them. In a moment of enthusiasm, Mags and I installed this handsome beast at the end of the raised beds. GW
With more than a year's worth of hard graft under his belt, Dave Parker looks up at his handy work on the cowerking space. Antonio & Cesar in the background, ready to start painting.
Tobias (looking scary), Javi & David working on a low scaffold, putting the insulation and plasterboard up on the Cowerking space. With a good lick of paint, a table, chair and brush up, this space is going to be ready to use by the weekend.
This weekend we've started painting the floor in the cowerking spaces. The back cowerking area has a nice red floor... And here's cute little William Tran walking on the new grey floor!
No! This isn't what it looks like! That black paint brush in Antonionio's hand is covered in goo - goo that will prevent water coming into the roof. I guess Sofi's just pleased to see him!
The Goo Squad Ant, Sof, Lorn, Dav - may they be praised!
It's been a long time coming and now we've finally got somewhere to put our bikes! Part of the plan to get the main space used more effectively was to clear out what we've been wanting to turn into the cowerking space, so we can start making it into what we said we gonna make it into. And it was full o' bikes, so we had to kick start the whole process by building a shed first!
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.
