Hothouse
Ash Sakula squeezed this cluster of studios, workshops, and offices into a unusually narrow, inaccessible site, sandwiched between the parkland of London Fields and the brick-arched mainline railway out of Liverpool Street.
Transforming an awkward piece of brownfield land into a vibrant new creative cluster, the building was the result of a competition to make a new headquarters for the Free Form Arts Trust, a network of arts practitioners, landscape designers and architects.
Its name, Hothouse, recollects the botanical glasshouses of Loddiges Nursery, which stood nearby in the 18th century.
2003 Mayor’s Special Award for Planning Excellence. Ken Livingstone described Hothouse as "an outstanding artistic space."
2008 Hackney Design Award. Jury comment: “The building has beautiful and flexible working spaces, which are full of light and look out over the park. Although the materials are often inexpensive, they are used with joy and playfulness. This makes the building fun, and at times, really beautiful.”
2009 Civic Trust Award
2009 RIBA Award for Architecture
Client: Free Form Arts Trust
Contractor: Mansell Construction
Project Manager: Michael Mitchell
Structural Engineer: Dewhurst Macfarlane
M+E Engineer: Michael Popper Associates
Cost Consultant: Faithful & Gould
