The Proposed & The Realisation

THE PROPOSED & THE REALISATION

SPIKE ISLAND

Jodie Nixon Hagen Friend Ali Treasure Dominic Madge

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Introduction.................................

The Realisation & The Proposal PHASE 1...........................................

PHASE 2..........................................

PHASE 3..........................................

The Outcome

This is a document to show the process of Artspace buying out the Brooke Bond warehouse and the conversion of a tea factory to an exhibition space and working studios; Spike Island. There are three phases that took place in this modification; three massively expensive phases. It started with a realisation that turned into a proposal which in turn, resulted in a brand new, working space. This document will include the facts and figures of the general maintenance costs during phases one to three, the income per annum and the expenditure, it also pays attention to the finer details of the conversion, and it also considers present day opinions about what the future holds for Spike Island. This document is designed to inform and educate about the lenghtly process that was the conversion.

Orignail summary of the conversion proposal

3D elevation of the proposed floor plan

History of Artspace Artspace collectively got together for the first time in 1979 to find a cheap space where artists could make work. They rented space from McArthurs warehouse near SS Britain. The artists grew in numbers, and the building became unsafe and was threatened with closure. In 1995 Artspace bought the lease of what was previously the Brooke Bond Tea Packing factory with the money they had raised themselves from exhibitions. They renovated the building, keeping in the spirit of the tea factory, and adapting it for use by artists and commercial tenants.

The central space, as a factory, held all the machinery on conveyer belts to package tea. The balcony was then renovated to be a source and common room for artists to meet.

The Printmakers space as a factory was a kitchen and refectory.

It now houses Printmakers, a company who rent the space.

As a tea factory the area below the printers was where the tea chest opened, and was taken up through the ‘Chest Openings’ in the painter space.

The tea Chests emptied and stored here were used to heat the building. The space has now been designed to be simple and flexible. There are large corridors, which can be used to hang work and also enable large work to come and go.

In the sculpture area the roller shutter doors and corridor used to be the machine workshops.

The main studio areas used to be where the packaged tea was stacked, ready for loading into the lorries.

Before refurbishment the area was completely open.

Now there are breeze block walls, used to designate studio space.

The name Spike came from the buildings geographical location. Spike is believed to be a medieval name for a prison, and Bristol prison used to be at the end of Cumberland road, near the Louisiana pub and Graham builders.

Original photographs of refabrication

ONE

The first phase would bring the fabric of the warehouse back into a good state of repair and allows occupation.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

Original photographs of refabrication

ENO

The first phase would bring the fabric of the warehouse back into a good state of repair and allows occupation.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

Niall Philips Architects Wright, Pitt and Emmett Surveyors Grimley JR Eve Surveyors Bevan Ashford Solicitors

TWO

The second phase allows for main conversion for Artspace use, creating individual and group studios. The first two phases are the essential ones for Artspace’s immediate occupation.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

OWT Niall Philips Architects Wright, Pitt and Emmett Surveyors Grimley JR Eve Surveyors Bevan Ashford Solicitors

The second phase allows for main conversion for Artspace use, creating individual and group studios. The first two phases are the essential ones for Artspace’s immediate occupation.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

Representing the basic requirements for Artspace’s occupation of the warehouse.The studio element of UWE requirement is included in phase two.

THREE Full conversion of public spaces.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

EERHT Representing the basic requirements for Artspace’s occupation of the warehouse.The studio element of UWE requirement is included in phase two.

Full conversion of public spaces.

(Inclusive of professional fees)

Converted gallery space in Spike Island.

Spike Island is:

“Bright & Spacious”

“Accessible & Secure”

Spike Island gives me:

“Individual & Shared Spaces”

“Quiet Spaces”

The intent of this document is to inform and engage audiences with the process and journey that Spike Island has gone through to become the historic institution that it is today. It started with the proposal of what needed to be done to make it an occupational space, and carried on to the realisation of the re-construction process. This publication goes through each phase of the original summary that was written by the artspace group in 1993, outlining the facts and figures of the proposal, including general maintenance costs and the expected income per annum. This is a visual timeline from before Spike Island was created and was the Brook Bond tea factory up until the present day. It concludes with our own ‘Phase 4’ which summarises what the public think of the space and how they respond to it and the surroundings. It is essentially a visual walk-through of the space and its fabrication, using the original blueprints and the images of the development from start to finish.

The act of curating, of organizing and maintaining a collection of artworks or artifacts

Curation: