Where London Works

London is home to 800,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who account for 99.8% of all London’s businesses, nearly half of the capital’s jobs and generate over £430bn turnover; driving the city’s growth and opportunities for its communities. These enterprises are also hugely diverse, requiring dynamic spaces and exemplar design to house and nurture the breadth of their potential.  

City Hall Regeneration Funds help these needs by focusing on the buildings, yards and estates where the capital’s most productive economic activity occurs, supporting innovative projects throughout the city. The projects funded and now delivered through these programmes are bringing tangible benefits, nurturing the unique and evolving needs of enterprises across London.  

Providing a stepping-stone for entrepreneurs, creatives, and small businesses, Bradbury Works in Dalston offers affordable space as part of long-term, strategic effort by Hackney Council and the Greater London Authority (GLA), in partnership with operator Hackney Cooperative Developments. Its aim is to equip their tenants to contribute economically and socially to the area, valuing who and what’s already there, building a local economy where the local community can prosper.   

1,100 sqm of new and refurbished affordable workspace and 10 upgraded retail spaces Bradbury Works retains the best attributes of the existing building and its relationship to both Gillett Square and Bradbury Street in the heart Dalston, while providing much needed improvement to its facilities. Designed by [Y/N] Studio, the pitched roof form creates a large new floor plate, offering workspaces with mezzanines, while ensuring the building does not overshadow the square or detract from the traditional masonry of the Bradbury Street façade. 

Combining a place of growing, making and exchange, the newly opened, locally tuned LJ Works  connects deeply into the existing area, transforming a place that was previously wasteland into new spatial and programmatic possibilities. 

With the capital investment and partnership working of Lambeth Council and GLA, the project was developed with operators Meanwhile Space, and designers Architecture 00 and Public Works. However, at its core, LJ Works is the result of a very local team effort, supported by the local community organisations LJAG, Marcus Lipton Youth Centre, Lambeth Estate Management Board, Tree Shepherd and Pathway Green Man Skills Zone. 

The site has been designed to create opportunities, taking into account the diversity of entrepreneurs and creative talent in the area, while making room in the urban landscape for community and the growth of local networks. A community give-back scheme provides a framework for LJ Works member businesses to connect with the wider Loughborough Junction community, through skill sharing, offering training opportunities, organising creative and social activities, or volunteering with local organisations. 

Offering flexibility and shared resources, Bloqs in Enfield provides professional makers with an ambitious new model for affordable workshop space, access to state-of-the-art equipment and the opportunity to become part of a supportive community of fellow makers.  

Funded by the GLA and Enfield Council, 5th Studio worked in close collaboration with the founders of Bloqs to deliver 3000 sqm of open-access workshop space and facilities for woodworking, metalworking, fabric & sewing, engineering, spray finishing, as well as training resources and services such as courses, classes and hireable meeting rooms.  

RIBA National Award winner 2023, the workshop facility is part new build and part adaptive reuse of a former vehicle testing facility. The light-filled building is 8 metres tall with direct access to a service yard. New amenities open to the public include a café/event space and a shop stocking tools and materials.