News

In 2013, sculptor and carpenter Sam Kennedy met multi-skilled maker James Gilpin at a shared workshop in London. After becoming friends - and consistently helping one another out on their projects - the two decided it made sense to team up as Commissioned By You. As their business grew and more complex commissions were won, the pair sought a workshop to rent with more space, h ...

Don’t ask an academic to explain how to make a chair, they’ll only write you an essay. No, really - you can download it here We’d like to say a fond farewell and a huge thanks to Liam Grace-Flood, a recent US grad who’s been a fixture at BloQs this summer. Liam’s traveling all over the world this year as a Watson fellow,  exploring how open access workshops make better things ...

I had a wakeup call one day “I thought oh my god I'll be a fisherman for the rest of my life. I had stability and I had money in the bank, but I wanted a complete change.” Furniture designer, shop fitter, prop maker, sculptor - multi-skilled maker Tristan Cochrane came to the game relatively late. A fisherman for ten years, the Scotsman’s strong desire for change is one that ...

Makers are establishing new businesses, diversifying their portfolios and increasing efficiency thanks to simple to use, start of the art laser cutting and engraving technology. From cutting acrylic signage to theatre and event props, adding delicate details to textiles and engraving top of a fine dining tables, laser cutting and engraving means greater efficiency and creativi ...

Building BloQs has, since opening in 2012, become a professional home for seasoned makers, many with heavyweight portfolios and long established client networks. But our open workshop in north London is equally perfect for makers in their early throws. It’s a time of year when a steady flow of students and grads join our ranks, so they can hone skills, continue their education ...

It’s a HOAX. Let’s Reimagine Rubbish. As a theatre and object maker, what really gets me going is reimagining familiar, forgotten and disregarded things.  That's probably why my favourite place in the whole of Building BloQs workshop is the off-cut bin by the wood burner. Among the piles of castaways, my inner scavenger comes out to play. Maybe I just love the idea that a pho ...

A long journey ends, another begins  “I was looking for somewhere I could be. And think. And have the facilities to make a large collection in a short space of time. After looking around, I found Building BloQs.” Zana Agafonva arrived at Building BloQs in spring this year, ahead of her graduate collection fashion show at The Cass. In a short space of time, her awe-inspiring ...

“Making in this city is rich and deep-rooted. We can act as a gateway into understanding the richness that we celebrate” Addressing an audience at this week’s London Real Estate Forum, Al Parra, described the vision that underpins Building BloQs. Addressing City Hall directly, he urged that more support and creative thinking be deployed so organisations like ours can continue ...

Dave Chamberlain is DWC, a small, friendly, neighbourhood carpentry business that runs out of the Building BloQs workshop. Aside from a stint in Iraq serving with the UK army, Dave has - for his regulars and referrals - been north London’s go-to wood worker for 25 years. There's glass half full people and glass half empty people – I'm just happy I've got a glass says Dave. “I ...

In 2016, Hebe George and Zekan Cemal came together. Hebe, a designer, and Zekan, a carpenter, were both working in the creative industries: designing and building sets for shows, events, productions and festivals. Their collaboration morphed into Offset Studios, a design and build company that has a lot going for it. A string of happy clients, a reliable pool of freelance frie ...

Barnaby Reynolds is an award-winning designer with a forensic approach to detail. Not only has his work featured in the likes of Elle and Wallpaper magazines, past clients include Harrods, Arcadia and Vivienne Westwood. Barnaby’s name, his reputation and his designs have become synonymous with intricate, beautiful and enigmatic detail. As the architect Mies van der Rohe said, ...

Hi, my name’s Charlie Ross and I founded an eco textiles company Offset Warehouse six years ago. We source and develop beautiful hand-crafted and ethically produced fabrics from around the world, and sell from one to hundreds of metres at affordable but fair prices. We’re the first company in the UK to sell a broad range of these fabrics exclusively - from hemp, to organic cott ...

With Offset Warehouse coming to Building BloQs on Saturday morning (6th May) to talk about and create with sustainable textiles, we felt compelled to investigate the green credentials of our makers – and of Building BloQs itself. As many know, Building BloQs is scaling up towards the end of this year. We're moving to a space four times bigger on the other side of the canal her ...

‘I thought, well, I’ve got nothing to lose’ Stuart talks blacksmithing in London and his time at the BloQs metal workshop. Some makers arrive at Building BloQs just as their freelance careers lift off. Others come to scratch a creative itch outside of the day job. But bespoke blacksmith Stuart Watson turned up here in 2012 because he was utterly out of options. A relative ve ...

It's a partnership, a journey we go on together Stephanie Porter talks of her bridal design business and the BloQs Textile Studio. More than most maker industries, textiles is defined by its seasonality. In the lead up to spring, the Building BloQs’ London Textile Studio is on fire as designers and makers strive to get their new ranges ready. Wedding dress designer Stephanie ...

A former pro mountain boarder, these days Ollie Morrisonis a little more risk-averse. A recent graduate of London’s Building Crafts College, the Devon-native is slowly and methodically establishing his career as a Designer Maker He's made some sacrifices to get here, so day-by-Pay-As-You-Go day, Ollie is using Building BloQs as a base to explore his craft, hone his skills, an ...

For 40 years Hollywood has churned out films depicting the classic struggle of man and machine. I think we’ve been subtly conditioned to see the rise of machines as something to fear. In the news too, whenever machines edge out a human workforce we get a little nervous about where it’s all headed. But at Building BloQs, we don’t see man and machine, or manual and automated, as ...

‘Your steel bike will outlive you’ I don’t want people to see my bike design as rarified or made with blood and tears, the work of an artisan. I want people putting my bikes to task: taking them on adventures, racing the weekend and not being scared of using it. As a discipline, frame building is on its way back up after a generation of decline. “People moved away from steel ...

“Allow the material to speak as part of the design, a piece is the sum of its parts, so you need to start with the right parts” The last six months have been something of a whirlwind for furniture making duo Knotch Design, one of the youngest businesses working out of BloQs. Established in the summer of 2016, the professional partnership between Noah Kay and Ben Hooper may be ...

“Elegant, playful, happy – for me there are different emotions through the darkness of black.” Garment designer Angelika Chilikova has, in just under two decades, had at least two careers. Her first and original career started alongside her fashion designer mum at Kino, a renowned Greek fashion house, which she would later join as Design Director. At a young age, Angelika fou ...

‘I love it: I got in and couldn't get out’ “Sometimes, if I’m driving round the countryside or walking round town I can say ‘made that’, ‘made that’. It’s a great feeling to know you’ve contributed to the world around you.” Joe Buckingham is The Gentleman Blacksmith. Or vice versa. Skilled in metalwork, design, and woodwork, Joe has 15 years' experience, a mighty portfolio, a ...

Last week we were rather chuffed to welcome the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan for a visit to Building BloQs. The Mayor was in Edmonton to see Meridian Water starting to take shape - Enfield Council’s £6bn regeneration site which will see the delivery of 10,000 new homes and 6,700 jobs. Visiting BloQs, the Mayor was given a tour of the workshop by Al Parra. Meeting members and ...

Renting a professionally equipped fashion studio by the day, week or month helps fashion students and graduates affordably deliver their collections and develop their future careers in the industry. Fashion students and graduates are seeing the benefits of having a textile studio that’s available on a flexible, pay-as-you-go basis in London, instead of relying on cramped unive ...

For London’s freelance metalworkers, open workshops offer an appealing combination of affordable access to professional kit and a network of contacts and opportunities. In a city where workshop space is increasingly limited and expensive, these spaces provide a solution. In his third decade blacksmithing in London, Stuart Watson has seen first hand how the city has changed - “ ...

Renting a professionally equipped textile studio by the day, week or month allows designers to affordably deliver their pieces and collections in line with the seasonality of the industry. More and more designers are seeing the benefits of having a flexibly accessible textile studio in London rather than fork out for the costs of renting and maintaining their own permanent spa ...