Shipping containers to house artist studios at Silvertown Quays, E16

Shipping containers could be unloaded onto the Royal Docks once again, with the Silvertown Partnership submitting plans for nearly 200 containers at their Silvertown Quays site, E16, continuing a trend for meanwhile uses on large regeneration projects. The plans involves 193 interconnected shipping containers and flat pack cabins, which will be stacked over three storeys to create 151 artist studios and creative workspaces with supporting retail, food and drink, exhibition and community project space, and a crèche, for a period of five years. The Silvertown Partnership said Silvertown Studios will be a “neighbourhood of artists, artisans, makers, gallerists, curators, cultural and community organisations, social enterprises and creative entrepreneurs, with on-site making, showing and selling opportunities”. “In line with the Silvertown Partnership’s vision, the area will become a place to make, show and share.” The space will be run by V22, a shared ownership art organisation that specialises collecting contemporary art, producing exhibitions, events and educational initiatives, and providing artist and artisan workspaces. Publicly listed, owned by artists and investor-patrons, the shared-ownership model enables participation in patronage at all levels, allowing artists to retain a stake in their work and that of their contemporaries. A spokesperson for the Silvertown Partnership said: “The legacy of Silvertown Studios could be a new process by which development incubates its own tenants, activates places on the ground (by the people), uses culture and creative industries in an informed manner, and seeds the regeneration of development sites for the long term.” Other sites to incorporate temporary shipping containers include Hammerson and Ballymore’s Bishopsgate Goodsyard, E1, and Stanhope’s Ruskin Square in Croydon. Carl Turner’s Pop Brixton, SW9, has also proved successful while Lambeth Council decide what to build on the town centre site on a permanent basis. Silvertown Studios will be twice as big as Boxpark in Shoreditch (61 containers) and Croydon (96 containers), with more space dedicated to creative workspaces, rather than food and retail. The Silvertown Partnership is made up of Chelsfield Properties, First Base and Macquarie Capital. The scheme will include more than 50 commercial buildings for offices and showrooms, creating 21,000 jobs. The plans also include 3,000 new homes. The first phase of construction will include 850 homes, most of which will be for rent. • To send feedback e-mail paul.wellman@egi.co.uk or tweet @paulwellman eg or @estatesgazette