Record numbers visit BloQs for Open House ’19

More than two hundred Open House explorers came to see and make as Building BloQs threw open its doors for the Open House two-day London wide festival. In ones and twos to huge big walking parties from Enfield’s Meridian Water Tour large visitors went of guided walks around London’s largest open access workshops. Lead by a BloQs Team member, tours took in the various departments, many makers, lots of machines and some extraordinary creations.

We were proud to have our Member’s work on show, not least of which was Reis Martin’s crew who displayed a part of their Stargate, a fanzine project of enormous proportions. The Stargate is so large that we weren’t able to display all of it because it doesn’t fit under our 6m high roof! Nevertheless, the small part of it we had on display attracted visitors from far and wide with one visitor coming especially from Stockholm. Nice one Trolle.

Interstellar travel portals were not the only thing on display. Visitors were able to see the making of a motorbike sidecar racer being fabricated in the new metalwork department. The build team is made up of BloQs Members and Team and the plan is to enter it into the Mablethorpe Beach Race, possibly in October. We’ll keep you posted with more news.

Our digital technology was putting on a show too. Many visitors got to witness the impressive Biesse CNC Router in action, either at work or being put through its paces and the Trotec CNC Laser Cutter was in action all weekend, cutting out souvenirs for visitors or hard at work processing jobs for clients.

The Fabric Studio saw lots of action too. Some Members had products out for sale, there was a superb display of couture, and Zana Agafonva ran a free drop in class for any visitor to make their own tote bag to take home. Many learnt some of the machines whilst they were at it.

After taking in architectural models, designs for shop windows, furniture making, and lots of loud machines visitors took a break from exploring in the BloQs Café to sit amongst displays of member’s art works and enjoy a well-earned brunch or a slab of organic brownie with a cup of tea. The café is open for visitors Monday to Saturday so if you didn’t get a chance to visit over Open House, you can always pop in for a bite to eat and catch a glimpse of the workshops at their busy work through our feature window wall.

Huge thanks to Open City, Enfield Council, and every single visitor who made it such a great weekend.