SpacesWorcester City Council has announced that the recently refurbished spaces at Arches Worcester (www.thearchesworcester.co.uk) will be managed by the team behind The Kiln, a managed workspace on Copenhagen Street, and will be let out in the New Year.
The Kiln offers small businesses and freelancers (thekiln.co) office, meeting, hot desking and event space and the team will bring their experience to this new venture.
The Arches Worcester refurbishment, part of an investment of over £3million from the Central Government’s Cultural Development Fund, aims to create a new cultural hub for the city.
A series of railway arches between Foregate Street, the Hive and the Riverfront are lovingly transformed into spaces for creative enterprise.
“The Kiln team demonstrated a clear passion and commitment to The Arches Worcester in their proposal and had a good understanding of our longer-term vision for the area,” said Shane Flynn, Chair of the Worcester Arches Project Board.
“Crucially, her team has demonstrated strong and longstanding ties to the Worcester creative community, which is essential to this engagement.”
According to the terms of the Cultural Development Fund’s investment, the renovated arches can only be rented for creative and artistic purposes.
The Kiln team will begin marketing the four available spaces at Arches early in the new year. In the meantime, interested parties are asked to register their interest at This email address is being protected from spam bots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of The Arches project. As Worcester residents, it’s great to see the plan for a creative district in the city come to life,” said Greg Smith, co-founder of The Kiln.
“Since the founding of The Kiln Coworking Space, we have been dedicated to breaking down the walls around the creative community in Worcester, and this is the perfect opportunity to continue that mission.”
All four Arches rooms have a kitchenette, disabled toilet and exhibition space. Accessibility has been considered from the start with automated entrance doors and a level threshold at the entrance.
The refurbishment was carried out by Worcestershire based construction company Speller Metcalfe.
Several nearby arches have already been independently occupied by restaurants and bars, a brewery, a coffee bar, entertainment and industrial design units.
About The Arches – Worcester
The Arches – Worcester project is transforming some of the beautiful Victorian railway arches at Netherton Court and Cherry Tree Walk, Worcester, into affordable and flexible studios and offices for local artists and creative businesses. They will take their place alongside existing local businesses, restaurants and cafes to create a new cultural destination for tourists and local communities.
The area will also house a new flexible public space for performances, rehearsals and exhibitions.
In January 2019 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport awarded over £3million from the Cultural Development Fund managed by Arts Council England towards the cost of The Arches – Worcester.
The project is implemented by the Worcester Cultural Partnership, which is made up of:
- The University of Worcester
- Worcestershire County Council
www.thearchesworcester.co.uk
www.facebook.com/archesworcester
@thearchesworc
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. In Let’s Create it set out its strategic vision that by 2030 England should be a country where the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where each of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality has cultural experiences. It invests public money from the government and the National Lottery to support the sector and achieve this vision. Find out more about Arts Council England.
About the Arches Festivals
The Arches Festivals organize brand new festivals showcasing national and international creative talent and supporting local emerging work – bringing culture and creativity to the heart of Worcester.
thearchesworcesterfestivals.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/archesfests
@archesfest
About The Arches – Get involved
The Arches – Participe project provides support and advice for creative start-ups and entrepreneurs in Worcester. It works to strengthen local leadership in the city’s cultural and creative industries, deepen the diversity of the workforce, and enhance artistic and creative skills development to fuel the growth of Worcester’s economy. This is achieved through a mix of training and support from both the public and private sectors.
www.thearchesworcester.co.uk/participate
www.facebook.com/Arches-partizipieren-101720764793208
@ParticipleWorc