But over a number of decades, the process of delivering built assets has become fragmented.
With only two metres separating the roof of the building from the A40 Westway and The Grand Union Canal only five meters from the walls of the building, the triangular structure of Great Western Studios is in a unique urban position.Partway between Notting Hill and Paddington in West London, the space was originally an old paint factory, which the owners enlisted award-winning architect, Bryden Wood, to turn into studio space for the artistic community back in 2009.
After the successful completion of the first project, Bryden Wood was commissioned a second time in 2017 to add a further two storeys to the building to create a total of 104 studio spaces.. GWS’ Marketing Executive, Kristi Minchin, says she was initially attracted to the building by the talent and creative energy of its occupants who include artists, architects, fashion brands, and creative tech companies.‘You could talk to forty people in one day and they are all working on completely different projects and it’s all happening under this one roof.I love that so much.’ GWS offers a range of different studios from 150 square foot units for 1 to 2 people and runs all the way to 10,000 square foot units for 100+ employees.
Minchin says, ‘Businesses can grow in the space.Lots of people do upsize - that’s what the building is designed for,’ she adds, ’there’s also quite a lot of demand for the smaller atrium-facing spaces too as they are good shop fronts.
People like that because everyone who comes into the building will see you.’.
In a space with so many vibrant creative businesses, I wonder about collaboration opportunities.At the end of its life, the various standardised components would be recycled, reused or redeployed, creating a circular economy.
As the Internet of Things evolves and built assets become smarter, gathering increasing amounts of data, they could become self-optimising, intelligent buildings – recognising the need for a change in air or lighting levels.Ultimately, this type of data would then feed back into the design process itself, creating an open-ended process of continual improvement, and contributing to the next generation of components.. Our sustainable future.
Of course, the most pressing, current question is: how do we make a planet which sustainably supports 11.5 billion people?Population growth coupled with the required infrastructure will generate massive amounts of carbon.