Permission has been granted for a major new makerspace hub at Meridian Water to provide affordable workspace for hundreds of workers.
Building BloQs is one of the key partners on Enfield Council’s flagship £6bn Meridian Water project - and it will play a vital role in providing creative manufacturing workshop space during the development’s construction and beyond.
The decision to grant planning permission for the project on 17 December by Enfield Council means Building BloQs will move into the former vehicle testing building which will be converted to provide more than 30,000 square feet of manufacturing workshop space.
The building will provide capacity for more than 1,000 members with a significant increase in the number of people who can access the facilities at any one time acrossfour major departments - Engineering, Wood, Metal as well as a Fashion Studio.
Workers will have access to more than £1million worth of light industrial equipment and there will also be new skills training facilities, a waterside café, gardens, a shop and event space all of which will be easily accessible to Enfield residents.
Enfield Council’s £6 billion Meridian Water scheme is seeking to provide 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs and to create 8.2 hectares of parkland in the Lea Valley over the coming 25 years.
Enfield Council has taken control of the vision and delivery of Meridian Water to ensure that local people are the principal beneficiaries. It aims to provide thousands of affordable homes and quality jobs in Enfield as well new schools, community and health services, nurseries, shops and youth and leisure facilities.
The Deputy Leader of Enfield Council, Cllr Ian Barnes, said: “I’m thrilled that our partnership with Building BloQs is flourishing as workspace like this provides the seeds for the future creative industries in Enfield, allowing businesses to form and grow.
"Building BloQs will now have access to flexible and affordable open access workshop space allowing them to increase the amount of space and facilities available to support freelance designers, makers, and small businesses while Meridian Water grows.
“Meridian Water has always been about jobs as well as homes and, this facility will play a huge role in helping us to achieve our aspiration of providing a wide range of good quality creative jobs on the site.”
The Council has set out a clear vision for the project which puts placemaking at the heart of the project. The Council has focussed on three pillars of placemaking: Parklife on Your Doorstep, Your Place to Make and Create, and Mixing Uses, Animating Streets.
The partnership with Building BloQs is a strategic fit with the development’s Your Place to Make and Create placemaking pillars as set out in its vision document.
Prior to all the site being developed the Council will use its landholding to accommodate meanwhile uses that promote placemaking.
The Building BloQs project is part of a series of interim projects that will play a significant role in supporting the regeneration of Meridian Water.—It will play a key role in defining the character of the area through placemaking and bringing unused and underused sites into use ahead of advance of longer term regeneration and development plans.