Duke Studios: The creative space set to give Leeds a right royal shake up
This winter sees the launch of Duke Studios: the multidisciplinary creative space which looks set to give Yorkshire’s brightest minds all the thinking space they need. In an ambitious urban regeneration project, the 7,000 sq ft. space in Munro House overlooking Leeds bus station which used to house Auto Trader’s offices is being transformed into an open plan, design-led haven for creative collaboration.
The project is based on co-working, a revolutionary concept that provides freelancers and companies with an exciting alternative to the isolated humdrum of working from home or the inconvenience of travelling to out-of-town studios. At Duke, creatives can focus on doing what they do best: creating. What’s more, in a co-working environment individuals are surrounded by a supportive network of innovative thinkers who provide each other with a constant stream of inspiration.
With incredible views over Leeds city centre, Duke Studios offers a co-working area, desk rental and studio spaces. For those looking to really impress their clients, the Not Bored Room provides creatives with opulent surroundings for pitch-winning meetings.
But it’s not just an office. Duke Studios is a place where the two most incompatible of human elements - productivity and creativity - collide. This office-cum-studio boasts a mezze of facilities that will satisfy even the hungriest of artistic appetites, including vinyl and laser cutting, a photographic studio and a fully-equipped workshop.
From a business perspective, Duke Studios’ appeal is simple: the opportunity for networking is limitless. Co-workers will be able to gain work they never even knew existed, be that from passing work between each other within the studio or using their collective power to win contracts that couldn't have been achieved single handed. Duke Studios will also act as an agency, actively seeking to find new business for the talent within its walls.
The tiered membership scheme means that people can choose the solution which is best for their budget, but even the most expensive studio rental package is cheaper than renting a small city office. Everyone has access to all the facilities, so by working at Duke Studios anyone can instantly expand their business with a whole array of new technology, meeting space and service areas which they may otherwise not be able to afford.
The twentysomething entrepreneurs at the heart of the project are boyfriend/girlfriend duo James Abbot-Donnelly and Laura Wellington. James is a well known photographer and co-owner of eventograpyUK.com, a local event and nightlife photography website; and Laura - a talented design graduate - is the current face of the Leeds Metropolitan Alumni, featuring on billboards across the city.
Laura’s ‘Hula’ lighting design recently captured the imagination of the nation on BBC2’s Britain’s Next Big Thing (presented by Dragon’s Den’s Theo Paphitis) landing her an international supply contract with the home and interiors retail giant Habitat.
Laura understands the struggle that young creatives face when trying to turn their passions into a viable business, and she believes that a huge part of the problem, particularly in smaller cities like Leeds, is the lack of a professional creative space.
“It’s massively important to have a space that inspires, encourages and supports the companies within to be able to grow and collaborate. It’s also vital for those businesses to have access to the technology and facilities that they need to run their businesses on a day to day basis. Duke studios will not only provide all of these things but a platform to promote the fledgling entrepreneurs too."
The guys at Duke Studios don’t just stop at facilities and talent management either. They believe that a creative education is key to nurturing a creative community, and will be offering innovative courses ranging from photography, design, electronics and hands-on making. Given the duo’s design credentials and enthusiasm for the project, it seems that whatever the Duke offers, it guarantees to be nothing less than inspiring.
The 7,000 sq ft. space provided a perfect blank canvas for the Studio and one in which the exciting coworking brief would fit well. The mixture of studio spaces, co-working and desk rentals all require individual designs and have differing needs, the challenge was to bring the piece together as a whole.
"We established a theme for the space which was creative-chic on a budget. The studio spaces have been produced from honeycomb cardboard offering a flexible and eco-friendly private work area, each of these can be adapted in order to extend or reduce the space as required. The theme for the co-working area is ‘bringing outside inside’ and as such we felt that what better way than to create a picnic area within Munro House. The open feel to the co-working space complete with oversized picnic benches and lawn encourages individuals to share ideas and enthuses collaborative working.
"Finally the desk rental area, we wished to create an open feel whilst retaining a degree of privacy, Finnish design duo Mari & Me developed the tree with the brief to ‘divide but not separate’. The area feels your own yet does not restrict the open aspect to the space. Overall the individual elements create a succinct and quirky design, where else could you work within a woodland in the city centre?"
Duke Studios will officially open its big yellow doors later this year. Private or group studio tours and consultations, plus laser cutting facilities are available immediately. For more information go to www.duke-studios.com.
Duke Studios Offers:
- 10 Studios Spaces
- 8 Desk Rentals
- Co-Working for 30+
- Fully equipped workshop facilities
- Hireable Photography Studio
- Photography Services
- Design Studio
- Laser cutting service and hire
- Vinyl cutting service and hire
- Meeting Room
- Event Space
Munro House is situated at the corner of Duke Street and York Street in Leeds City Centre, the building is currently being transformed into a hive for creativity and culture.
The glorious former cloth house currently boasts office space for over 30 businesses, Design Studios, Co-working Space, meetings rooms, a café, Commercial art gallery and a 7000 sq ft events/conference space with rooftop views of the city.
Phase two of the development of Munro house will see the space continue to grow with the addition of recording studios, band lock-up, rehearsal rooms, a restaurant bar/grill and two further independent ventures.
Munro house aims to create a finely tuned mix of business and leisure that will provide a unique environment for Leeds where both visitors and tenants will be able to enjoy the vibrant community.
Credit Images : Park Designed
