The buzzing and trendy streets of East London are not somewhere you’d usually associate with affordable office space. Particularly inexpensive workspace coupled with leading edge and environmentally friendly design. But that’s exactly what THECUBE has achieved, using the brains and brawn of only two people on a budget of £10,000 in the space of just one month.
Based on Commercial Street in Shoreditch, THECUBE's base was a casualty of the economy and had been left unused for six months before being acquired by Araceli Camargo-Kilpatrick (28) and Marcus Kilpatrick (41) in early 2009. The pair had a vision to provide a conceptual workspace and support community for creative and innovative entrepreneurs, catering for both start-ups and fledging graduates looking to make more opportunities via enterprise.
Marcus, with no formal design or build experience, other than his recent work to create a houseboat, transformed the building into three levels of flexible space, using recycled materials, including former scaffolding, second-hand textiles and old furniture.
Speaking of the refurbishment, Marcus said: “We applied the same concepts I used to create a houseboat, maximising the limited space available. It made sense to build everything bespoke as there were several problems with the flooring and we were also able to reduce costs, rather than buying new furniture.”
THECUBE has a welcoming reception on the ground floor including communal kitchen, toilets and flexible meeting rooms. Upstairs, there is workspace available throughout including a further lounge area on the top floor where members of THECUBE and their guests can relax or meet.
Marcus continued: “Almost everything we used came from recycled materials. The workbenches, for instance, came from old planks used by a local scaffolding firm while the actual scaffold was used to create the workbench legs. We were on a really tight budget and are ethically focused, so it was only natural that we would source local materials that were either recycled or second-hand.”
Araceli – an MA graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and King’s College London – applied her designer eye to the project, developing a workspace that any creative entrepreneurs would be proud to be part of. The main colour theme is based on white, green and yellow.
She explained: “As we support the creative industries, it made sense to create something that has that designer edge. People still want to be able to wow their clients, even if they’re not paying normal East London prices for their office space.
“We really did our research on the colour scheme to provide a professional, working environment where people would feel inspired, energised and enterprising. It was a real labour of love and we’re both delighted with the result.”
People can become members and use THECUBE as a professional base for their work, allowing them to have their own workspace and all the necessary office facilities without the high costs or risk. It's particularly helpful for people who live outside of London and need a London base or office address.
Example monthly packages for businesses range from the £45 ‘Now & Again’ package - which gives members 12 hours workspace use, reception service, network access, a newsletter and business services - to ‘Perma Membership’ which adds on unlimited workspace use, storage and mailbox facilities.
Araceli added: “We’re not just ‘office rental’ for our members. They can also tap into valuable advice, ranging from company registration and formation to securing funding, accounting, marketing and PR. There are also regular events and gallery space for members to showcase their work to people across the creative industry.
“It is the ideal place to build business contacts, share skills and actually conduct your day to day business in the right environment.”
THECUBE is also available for other purposes such as fashion photo shoots, launch parties or networking events.
THECUBE is a conceptual workspace and network for people in the creative industries.
It was launched in September 2009 by founders Araceli Camargo-Kilpatrick and Marcus Kilpatrick, who created THECUBE to help people in the creative industries, develop and launch new ideas, share resources and contacts in an environment in which they could also do business with clients. THECUBEs’ members can use its facilities as and when needed, from as little as an hour to limitlessly. Space includes a workspace, boardroom, brainstorming space and gallery.
Members can also tap into services ranging from office mailbox and reception to business, funding, legal and accounting advice.
For more information, visit www.thecubelondon.com.
