5th Studio completes Bloqs, a makerspace in Enfield

Meridian Water is a major revitalisation programme in London with a 6-billion-pound budget and an estimated timeline of 25 years. Led by the Enfield Council, the programme will bring 10,000 new homes and 6,000 jobs to Enfield, near Lee Valley Regional Park north of London. Homes will of course not be enough to attract people to the area, for jobs are needed as well, and this is where Bloqs comes into the picture: an open professional workspace and social enterprise based in Meridian Water, founded in 2021 to offer affordable rates for use of machinery, workspaces, training and assistance to businesses that would not otherwise be able to access them. The regeneration project is inspired by the idea of a new facility, commissioning the architects of 5th Studio, a British studio that works in architecture, urban planning and landscape design with proven experience in makerspaces.
Enfield’s new Bloqs project skilfully combines new construction with adaptative reuse of a former vehicle testing plant. The result is a brightly lit 8-metre-high building the size of an airplane hangar, offering 2900 square metres of workspaces with facilities for woodwork, metalwork, fashion and sewing, engineering, and spray finishing with hi-tech machinery, as well as other resources and services such as courses and classrooms and meeting rooms available for rent.
In the new building, the architects pick up on the idiom of the existing industrial building, “ elevating standard components and ordinary materials such as profiled aluminium and translucent polycarbonate with carefully considered architectural detailing,” as they explain in a note for the press.
In addition to aspects of social sustainability - the project plays a key role in the plan for gradual development of the Meridian Water area, determining the character of this emerging district centring around creation and creativity – there is a great emphasis on environmental sustainability. This is the focus of an evolving masterplan involving adaptive reuse of buildings, materials and the landscape in line with the principles of the circular economy. Thus, for example, the structure is heated exclusively using scrap from the woodworking shop, and the dust extraction system takes on sculptural forms to add an artistic touch to the building. New public services also include a coffee shop with outdoor seating and an open-air stage for musical performances and events, as well as a shop selling tools and materials.
As an important step towards adaptation of a large-scale industrial landscape, Bloqs opens up a new path to providing maximum social utility at minimal financial and environmental cost, while boosting employment in Enfield. All with direct support for creative enterprises and industries!

Christiane Bürklein

Project: 5th Studio
Location: Enfield, UK
Year: 2021
Images: Claudia Agati, Timothy Soar, Alvie Hussan