Tag Archives: Space

ContainerVille Offers Affordable Work Space On Regents Canal

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ContainerVille, launched by The Estate Office Shoreditch, offers work space on Regents Canal
– Storage containers up-cycled for London’s dynamic start-ups –

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ContainerVille, a new initiative for London’s start-ups has been launched today by The Estate Office Shoreditch. The concept aims to attract dynamic young creatives in search of affordable work space in which to grow their entrepreneurial businesses. The unique location of this offering will allow ‘New Eastenders’ the chance to thrive amongst their peers with close proximity to vibrant Shoreditch and Hackney.

 

Start-ups looking for a home for their growing business will find no better alternative than ContainerVille, which offers rental of a whole container for £1200 per month. Made up of 30 converted storage containers on the south bank of Regent’s Canal, ContainerVille offers affordable work spaces with low rent and minimal overheads so that small businesses will be free to grow more organically. The site will be managed but the containers will offer a great deal of flexibility for their tenants.

 

Over the past weeks the containers have undergone a total fit out and emerge transformed into fully functioning spaces for up to five people per container. Individual desk spaces can be rented for £320pp per month as the minds behind ContainerVille recognise that together small firms are stronger and businesses may choose to share containers or work in partnership. ContainerVille aims to create a dynamic hub of start-ups and small businesses, increasing opportunity for growth in a community of like-minded creatives working in proximity to one another.  The landscaping around the containers is also geared to promote collaborative working and integration, with shared outdoor areas overlooking the canal.

 

The Estate Office Shoreditch hope to inspire future tenants with their historically rich canal-side location, where the technology of the industrial revolution will stand alongside the technology, design and digital firms likely to occupy the space. Further to the peace and tranquillity inspired by close proximity to the canal, Victoria Park, Broadway Market and London Fields are also within throwing distance, ensuring that tenants are well-connected and within easy reach of The City and West End.

 

The Estate Office Shoreditch is a family business who have owned and managed much of the land in and around Shoreditch since the mid 60’s. Phil Bouette, Development Manager at The Estate Office commented: “We are really excited about this new venture; we take a long-term view of property ownership and believe in offering flexibility to our tenants, whether they are longstanding establishments or fresh fast growth firms. We look forward to welcoming our first tenants in the next few weeks.”

 

No Space? No Problem.

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Now Christmas is done and dusted for another year, it’s time to start thinking about putting all of your new presents away and packing up the decorations ready to go back in the loft, cupboard or shed. The issue is, however, that with more possessions in the house you inevitably have less room to store them all and you have to think about new ways of putting things away before you start tripping over them all.

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The obvious solution for many is to take advantage of the New Year to go through your cupboards (like you’ve been promising for months), and throwing away the things you no longer need or use, or giving your old clothes to charity. However, as good – and kind-hearted – a plan as that might be, some people just can’t throw things away and while there may be a pile of things that are good to go, you still might not have made enough room for everything. What then?

One of the most spacious areas of the bedroom – a room in the house that is usually more cluttered than any other – is often somewhere that most people can’t get to and might not even think about. Underneath the bed you can find tons of room that isn’t utilized, mostly because of the sheer size of the bed you have. However, a solution to that problem could be to invest in one of the frames or mattresses that will not only provide you with a really stylish and comfortable bed, but plenty of storage space beneath it too.

Okay, so the space under your bed isn’t always accessible – that’s fine, because an Ottoman bed can be lifted up using the hinge that is located either at one end or on one side, allowing you to raise the mattress and reveal a storage space that can be hidden from view so anyone who comes round won’t see any of the things you’ve got stashed beneath. It makes perfect sense, especially when you consider that equipment or clothing that you only need at certain times of the year can be stored there to create room in your cupboards and wardrobe.

There’s a major benefit of an Ottoman bed that people don’t really appreciate until they give them a go. When you bring in a new form of storage, either a set of drawers or a shelving unit, you take up valuable floor or wall space. This means that you’re actually losing space to save space and quite often it doesn’t make that much of a difference. With a bed that has plenty of storage, however, all you’re doing is swapping a bed that uses the floor space for one that utilizes it and you get something stylish in the process, a win-win situation if ever there was one.

The Gut Girls | Theatre Review

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Gut-girls-webSet in the grimy depths of Edwardian Deptford, The Gut Girls was unexpectedly one of the best theatre shows I have seen, easily rivalling the productions staged on the West End.

 

The six strong-spirited, feisty women slog for 13 hours a day in the cattle quarters, artfully removing the offal, entails and entrails of meat before it is fit for the butchers.

 

Their mouths are as sharp as the knives they use; often a defence mechanism to taunts that they’re lower in class than the common whores who run the night.

 

Wonderfully original in plot, the play launches into the hustle and bustle of cockney London life with Annie (Emma Laura Canning) starting her first day at the gutting sheds.

 

Only 16, innocent and a little naïve, she struggles to stomach all the blood, flesh and guts which is ‘enough to stagger a horse’, but the other five quickly take her under their wings and the girls all laugh and joke despite their gruesome work.

 

It is then that Aristocrat Lady Helena visits the girls, inviting them to her ladies club to teach them manners, etiquette, sewing and readings from the Bible to better their prospects should they find alternative employment as maids or nannies. 

 

In a twist of irony, the girls keep saying that as long as there are meat eaters, they would have jobs and they laugh off the ‘barmy idea that people will only eat vegetables’ in the future.

 

And as if on queue, when Maggie (Caitlin Innes Edwards) the oldest, unmarried member of the group resists the advances of Edwin, Lady Helena’s associate, he vows to have her removed from her post after she threatens him with a knife.

 

All the girls are laid off but those who attended the ladies club are given good references but Maggie, who failed to go, struggles to find work and does the only thing she can to survive – by marrying bar landlord Len.

 

Once the women are no longer ‘the gut girls’, their friendship declines, their strong, independent and somewhat feminist nature seems to crumble and they pass one another on the street like strangers, fearing for their jobs and improved reputations.

 

The Gut Girls masterly depicts the struggles of the social classes, the plight of women against their masters, the dim future they face if they fail to marry and it also highlights the political and religious thoughts of the day.

 

Performed at a converted chapel, The Space Theatre in the Isle of Dogs, the actors were faultless, the stage and audience seating area were used to maximum effect, making it seem we were part of the show and the change of scenes were seamless.

 

All the actors proved themselves on the opening night, but hats off to Kate Craggs who played cockney Ellen as well as Lady Priscilla, Emma Laura Canning, the lead of Annie and Catherine Thorncombe, who played Emily and Edna.

 

The show led my emotions perfectly, from tears at the moment when Annie reveal’s she was raped by her master’s son, to tears of laughter as the girls mimic the sounds of tea being poured in a role-play exercise at the ladies club.

 

Vividly entertaining, expertly executed, The Gut Girls should aim much higher than that of a fringe production. I certainly won’t forget this show.

 

The Gut Girls, a Rum and Monkey production by Sarah Daniels and directed by David England, runs till Saturday 25 May. Tickets (£14/£10) can be bought from www.space.org.uk or by calling the Box Office: 0207 515 7799.

Outcasts – A New Sci-Fi Series {TV}

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A new sci-fi series, Outcasts, begins soon on BBC1. Created by Ben Richards who also created Spooks, it’s about a group of courageous pioneers facing a unique opportunity: the chance to build a new and better future on another planet.

A diverse group of individuals – led by President Tate (Liam Cunningham) with his core team of Stella (Hermione Norris), Cass (Daniel Mays) and Fleur (Amy Manson) – left their old lives behind in extraordinary circumstances. Promised a second chance at life, they created a society far away from their home, friends and family … and their pasts. They took charge and settled here first alongside expeditionaries Mitchell (Jamie Bamber) and Jack (Ashley Walters).

Settled in the town of Forthaven on the planet Carpathia, they are passionate about their jobs, confident of their ideals and optimistic about the future. They work hard to preserve what they’ve built on this planet they now call home, having embraced all the challenges that come with forging a new beginning. The planet offers the possibility for both corruption and redemption; whilst they try to avoid the mistakes made on Earth, inevitably our heroes cannot escape the human pitfalls of love, greed, lust, loss, and a longing for those they’ve left behind.

As they continue to work and live together they come to realise this is no ordinary planet. Mystery lurks around them and threatens to risk the fragile peace of Forthaven.

We meet the characters at a moment of incredible anticipation. They’ve lost all contact with Earth but the arrival of the last known transporter signals fresh hopes and dreams. Will Stella’s husband and daughter, who she heartbreakingly left behind, be on board? Why does Tate seem anxious about one particular passenger, Julius Berger (Eric Mabius)? Most nerve-wracking of all, will it land safely and bring a fresh perspective on the new world with it?

Creator and writer Ben Richards explains where the idea for Outcasts came from and what the series has in store:

“Part of my motivation in the drama was to counter the view that humans are doomed to failure, that we are born bad, that chaos and disharmony will always prevail. Outcasts is fundamentally about second chances – whether human beings are capable of living together in peace and building a better place for their children.”

“All of the principal characters are driven during the series by their belief that they can make Carpathia work in spite of considerable obstacles.”

The BBC’s just released a trailer of Episodes 1&2 today and we’re looking forward to seeing what this series will bring.

Outcasts starts on Mon 7th Feb at 9pm on BBC1


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