The ability of the building to shift, change and grow with the makers provides the ideal setting for the expansion of crafts and the individuals working within it. By locating it next to the canal, it allows for a new age of developing technologies and creations to be shared with the public while linking the historical culture of the site to the city of today.
There are three distinct components of the ‘Make Space’; the hypostyle, base and tower. Each serves an individual purpose, whilst working together to make the building function as a whole.
The hypostyle is set across three levels providing a new direct access from the canal towpath to the building entrance on Lightbody Street. Timber transitory pods run on tracks, emulating the viaduct that cuts across the east of the site, to bring café spaces, small galleries spaces and interactive workshops to the community. The covered space provided by the hypostyle creates a multifunctional space that can be used all year round and maintains the link between the creators and the community.
The base houses the various workshops for different activities. These include a ‘fablab’ workshop with all the computer-based technologies including 3D printers and laser cutters and a materials workshop with saws, drills, large workbenches and tools. There are also areas for storage of materials and built products and flexible studio spaces provided for individual crafts people to work. Office spaces allow for online based crafts and exhibition spaces display wares or can be used for larger projects. Finally, but most importantly, community spaces such as cafés, breakout areas and a garden roof, promote interaction between different makers which in turn could lead to collaborations within the design community.
The tower which emerges from the base provides living spaces for the crafts people who work within the ‘Make Space’. It utilise incremental design, starting as a skeleton, into which the bespoke timber living pods, produced in the workshops within the base, can be inserted when required. A sense of community is formed by living and working together, in turn encouraging the partnerships within the creative industry, inspired by the community spirit established by the ‘Make Space’.