Address | Artillery Square / No 1 Street / Cartridge Place / Carriage Street SE18 London, United Kingdom |
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Coordinates | 51°29′38.83″N0°4′12.63″E / 51.4941194°N 0.0701750°E |
Public transit | Woolwich Woolwich Arsenal |
Owner | Royal Borough of Greenwich |
Operator | Woolwich Works Trust |
Type | Artistic venues: The Academy, The Fireworks Factory, Workers' Yard, The Cartridge Factory, The Laboratory and The Carriageworks |
Capacity | 1200 (The Fireworks) |
Construction | |
Opened | September 23, 2021 |
Architect | Bennetts Associates (refurbishments) |
Tenants | |
National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, Punchdrunk, Protein and Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair | |
Website | |
www |
Woolwich Works, also known as Woolwich Creative District, is a multi-disciplinary cultural venue on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in southeast London, that opened in September 2021.
It occupies a range of historic buildings at the Royal Arsenal, and includes a 1200-seat auditorium for concerts and events, a performance courtyard that seats up to 600, as well as offices, television studios and rehearsal spaces for resident companies. Future phases will include a 450-seat black box theatre and a riverside restaurant. [1] [2] Woolwich Works is situated close to the Royal Arsenal Pier and the new Woolwich Elizabeth line station.
The development of a creative district in the Royal Arsenal was intended as part of the regeneration of the site that started in the mid 1990s, after the Arsenal ceased to be a military establishment. It is also seen as part of the wider regeneration of the Woolwich town centre.
In October 2018, planning permission was granted by Greenwich Council for the first phase of a restoration of five listed buildings in the historic Royal Arsenal, estimated at a cost of £31.6 million. The aim was to create a 15,000sqm complex of theatres, rehearsal studios, exhibition spaces and restaurants. [3] Originally this development was known as 'Woolwich Creative District' but names of the district and individual buildings were later put to the public vote and in July 2019 the name 'Woolwich Works' was announced. [4] The opening took place on September 23, 2021. [5] The final bill came in at £45.6 million. [6] It was anticipated that the new creative district will provide more than 400 local jobs. [7] Chief executive is James Heaton.
In June 2022 Woolwich Works reported being in financial difficulties and sought a two million pound loan from Greenwich Council. The Council indicated that it was minded to grant such a loan subject to various conditions. [8]
Woolwich Works offers a variety of music, dance and theatre experiences, with an emphasis on contemporary and popular music, and stand-up comedy. It is also the home of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, the multicultural Chineke! Orchestra, theatre company Punchdrunk, and dance company Protein. The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair has been using the premises since 2016, long before Woolwich Works was established, and will continue to do so. [5] The venue is also for hire for weddings, parties and conferences.
The buildings that make up Woolwich Works are grouped in two clusters, located to the west and east of No 1 Street. The cluster on the west side of No 1 Street consists of two listed buildings: Building 40 [9] and Building 41/41A; [10] the cluster on the east side of No 1 Street comprises three listed buildings, Building 17, [11] Building 18 [12] and Building 19 [13] (along with a modern structure between Buildings 17 and 18). The numbers refer to the Ministry of Defence building numbers.
As of 2022 the buildings have been renamed as follows: [14]
Building 40, the Old Royal Military Academy, is a freestanding building overlooking Artillery Square. It was built in 1718–23 on the site of a Tudor mansion named Tower Place. The brown-brick east façade has rich ornamentation. [15] Behind the main façade were two principal rooms, either side of an 'entrance saloon': to the north, the Board Room (a meeting-cum-dining room for the Board of Ordnance); and to the south, the Academy Room (for the training of recruits to the Board's military corps: the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers). Until 1807 the wing beyond the entrance saloon, to the west, housed the Ordnance Storekeeper (he had previously lived in Tower Place).
After a period of delay, what became the Royal Military Academy was formally opened in 1741; it remained in the building until 1806, after which it moved to new premises on Woolwich Common. The old building was then taken over by the Royal Laboratory, which used it to store patterns, and converted the Storekeeper's house into chemical laboratories. [16] After the First World War the building served as the Royal Arsenal Officers' Mess, until the closure of the Arsenal in 1994. It was then briefly used by the Royal Artillery Museum and now houses Academy Performing Arts (part of Woolwich Works).
Building 41, formerly known as New Laboratory Square, consists of a quadrangle around a courtyard. The western elevation is the oldest part, designed by James Wyatt as a storehouse for naval ordnance supplies in 1783. In 1808–10 the north and east wings were added as storehouses. By 1860 the complex had been taken over by the Royal Laboratory, mainly for the manufacture of ammunition for small arms. The From 2003–18 Greenwich Heritage Centre was located in the west range of the quadrangle. The courtyard, which can be used as a performance space for 600 visitors, is referred to as Workers' Yard. The central courtyard is used as an open air performance space. Around it are a number of venues for hire, the names of which reflect the former trades carried out there (e.g. Coopers Studio, Stitchers Studio, Ropekeepers Studio) and people who lived and worked in the area (e.g. Knight Gallery). [17] The main entrance is at No 1 Street.
Building 41A forms the south elevation of the quadrangle. With its characteristic glass façade and saw-tooth roof, it was built as a carpenters' workshop in 1877–78. In the years leading up to the closure of the Arsenal in 1994, much of the building was in use as Customs and Excise stores; from 2001-2016 it housed the Cold War exhibits of Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum. [18] From 2019–21 the entire complex was renovated and appropriated for use as a performing arts and exhibition venue, and renamed The Fireworks Factory. [19]
Building 17 dates from 1856: it is a two-storey, iron-framed block with two-colour brick walls. The cast-iron columns are a feature in the interior, which is said to be of 'considerable structural interest' as an early example of iron framing. [20] It was originally built for the manufacture of paper cartridges. From 2001-2016 it served as the main gallery space for Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum.
Building 18, originally the Royal Laboratory Offices, stands to the north of the Cartridge Factory and dates from the same period (though designed in a more classical style with a pilastered stone porch and a pediment). It was enlarged considerably between 1869 and 1877. Inside it retains original staircases. The building was converted in 1999–2000 to accommodate the Royal Artillery Institution Library, later renamed James Clavell Library, after its main sponsor. [21]
Buildings 17 and 18 were built as part of the Royal Laboratory within the Arsenal, which controlled the manufacture of ammunition. A modern infill of 1999–2000 connects the two buildings (it was built to provide an entrance and exhibition space for Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum). The buildings have not yet been fully integrated in the Woolwich Works project. In 2021 immersive theatre company Punchdrunk took a temporary lease of the buildings. Future plans will see the construction of a 450-seat black box theatre in the modern structure and the return of the Greenwich Heritage Centre to Building 18.
Building 19 was originally known as 'the mounting ground' – it was at this site north of the Royal Carriage Factory that guns were placed on their carriages. In the early 1860s the site was covered with an iron-framed and corrugated-sheet clad structure, which was replaced with the present larger and more durable building in 1887. It consists of three parallel sheds, of which the northernmost is shorter. The brick walls contain round-headed windows in relieving arches between pilaster strips. In the interior, tall cast-iron columns and beams for gantry cranes remain. In the early twenty-first century the building was used as a works depot for Berkeley Homes's projects on adjacent sites. [22] In 2021 Punchdrunk moved in and the venue was renamed The Carriageworks. The main entrances are on Cartridge Place (studios) and Carriage Street (offices).
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and part of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich to the east. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall. The council's offices are also based in Woolwich, the main urban centre in the borough.
Woolwich is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was originally known as the Woolwich Warren, having begun on land previously used as a domestic warren in the grounds of a mid-16th century Tudor house, Tower Place. Much of the initial history of the site is linked with that of the Office of Ordnance, which purchased the Warren in the late 17th century in order to expand an earlier base at Gun Wharf in Woolwich Dockyard.
Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land and partly as an urban park. Woolwich Common is a conservation area. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. It is also the name of a street on the east side of the common, as well as an electoral ward of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 17,499.
The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums, was first opened to the public in Woolwich in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of artillery through the ages by way of a collection of artillery pieces from across the centuries.
Woolwich Garrison is a garrison or station of the British Army. Geographically it is in Woolwich, in the London Borough of Greenwich. In terms of command, it is within the Army's London District.
The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a large consumer co-operative based in south east London, England. The co-operative took its name from the Royal Arsenal munitions works in Woolwich and its motto was: "Each for all and all for each". In 1985 it merged into the national Co-operative Wholesale Society.
Greenwich Heritage Centre was a museum and local history resource centre in Woolwich, south-east London, England. It was established in 2003 by the London Borough of Greenwich and was run from 2014 by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust until the centre's closure in July 2018. The museum was based in a historic building in Artillery Square, in the Royal Arsenal complex, which was established in the 17th century as a repository and manufactory of heavy guns, ammunition and other military ware.
St Mary Magdalene Woolwich is an 18th-century Anglican church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene in Woolwich, southeast London, England.
Woolwich Town Hall is an early 20th-century town hall located in the historic Bathway Quarter in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Until 1965 it was the seat of local government of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, after which it became the headquarters of the Greenwich London Borough Council. It is a rare example of an Edwardian Baroque town hall in London and is a Grade II*-listed building.
The former Granada Cinema, also known as the Ebenezer Building or Cathedral of Christ Faith Tabernacle, in Woolwich, South East London, was built as a large and luxurious cinema in the 1930s. It had a seating capacity of nearly 2500 and is now being used as a church hall. The building with its extravagantly decorated interior is a Grade II* listed building.
Bathway Quarter is an area of historic interest in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Most buildings in the Bathway Quarter are Grade II*, Grade II or locally listed, while the area as a whole is designated a conservation area by Greenwich Council. With the exception of the Old Town Hall, the listed buildings date from the late-19th or early-20th century. Several were designed by local architect Henry Hudson Church, their civic use reflected in their grand elevations formed of red brick with stone detailing.
St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Woolwich, South East London. It is situated between Woolwich New Road and Brookhill Road, the main entrance being on Woolwich New Road. The church was designed by Augustus Pugin in 1841–42 in the style of the Gothic Revival and is one of only three Pugin churches in London. Pugin's design remained unfinished as the projected tower and spire were never built. The parish of St Peter the Apostle serves the Catholic community of central Woolwich and surrounding areas, and is part of the Archdiocese of Southwark which is in the Province of Southwark.
The Gurdwara Sahib Woolwich is a Sikh gurdwara in central Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London. It was built in 1814–16 as a Methodist church and converted into a Sikh place of worship in the late 1970s. The main hall is Grade II-listed; the former Soldier's Institute and Sunday School next door, now in use as a langar, is not.
St George's Garrison Church is a ruined church in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London. It was built in 1862-63 as a Church of England place of worship for the Woolwich Royal Artillery garrison. The church was hit by a V-1 flying bomb in 1944 and largely destroyed by fire. The restored ruin with its canopied roof, its blue, red and yellow brick walls, its mosaics and a memorial garden is open to the public on Sundays.
The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse or Beresford Gate is the main gatehouse of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London, England. It was built in 1828, enlarged several times and is now a Grade II-listed building. The gate was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.
Beresford Square is a pedestrianised town and market square in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. It was formed in the early 19th century and was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. With its lively street market and lined with shops, pubs and restaurants, Beresford Square has been the heart of Woolwich for over two centuries. Since 2019 the square is part of a conservation area.
Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land in this part of the town. The street has been rebuilt several times but has retained some notable examples of late-Victorian and Art Deco architecture. Since 2019 the street is part of a conservation area.
Old Woolwich or Woolwich Central Riverside is an area along the Thames in Woolwich, South East London. It is the oldest inhabited part of Woolwich, going back to an Anglo-Saxon riverside settlement. When the demographic centre of Woolwich shifted south in the 1800s, the area became a Victorian slum. Most of Old Woolwich was cleared in the 20th and early 21st centuries to make way for industrial, infrastructural and other large-scale developments. Although most of the earlier buildings have been demolished, the area has retained some interesting architecture, including the Georgian parish church, the Edwardian foot tunnel rotunda and two cinemas of the 1930s.
Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison.