Worcester City Council has announced that the recently renovated space at Arches Worcester will be managed by the team behind The Kiln, a managed workspace on Copenhagen Street, and will be rented out in the New Year.
The Kiln provides office, meeting, hot desking, and event space for small businesses and freelancers. The team will bring its experience to this new project.
The Arches-Worcester redevelopment, part of an over £ 3 million investment from the Central Government’s Cultural Development Fund, aims to create a new cultural district for the city.
A series of railway arches between Foregate Street, the Hive and the riverside are being lovingly converted into spaces for creative companies.
“The Kiln team showed 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, chairman of the Worcester Arches Project Board.
“Crucially, your team has demonstrated strong and long-standing connections with the Worcester creative community, which is essential to this mission.”
Under the terms of the Cultural Development Fund, the renovated Victorian Railway Arches at Netherton Court and Cherry Tree Walk are for creative and artistic use only.
At the beginning of the new year, the furnace team will start marketing the four available spaces in the Arches. In the meantime, interested parties are invited to report their interest at arches@worcester.gov.uk
“We are very excited to be part of The Arches project. As a Worcester resident, it’s great to see the plan for a creative neighborhood come to life in the city, ”said Greg Smith, co-founder of The Oven.
“Since The Kiln Coworking Space was founded, we’ve been committed to breaking down the walls around Worcester’s creative community, and this is the perfect opportunity to continue that mission.”
All four Arches rooms have a kitchenette, a disabled toilet and exhibition rooms. Accessibility was designed from the start with automated front doors and a level threshold at the entrance.
The redevelopment was carried out by the Worcestershire-based construction company Speller Metcalfe.
Several arcs in the area have already been independently occupied by restaurants and bars, a brewery, a coffee bar, entertainment and industrial design units.