The outbreak of Covid 19 in 2020 caused a change in nearly everyone’s usual routine, we were forced to quickly adapt to working in a new environment and for countless of us, that entailed working from home.
In lockdown, many of us noticed the power of our environment, and whether it was a short walk in the local park or sitting quietly for a few minutes in the sunlight, the space we surrounded ourselves with could positively affected our mood and mindset through this tough time.
In the midst of this challenging time, local Forest Gate architecture and design studio Richard John Andrews, due to the studios continued growth and increase in demand for home-working solutions over the pandemic, started to look for a locally based external office spaces which mirrored the same ethos as their own practice. Unfortunately, this provision was seriously lacking within the local area which prompted Richard and the team to explore designing, constructing and launching their own office space: Forest Gate Works.
Located in Arch 362 on Winchelsea Road, Forest Gate Works is a creative co-working space with Richard John Andrews Ltd as a permanent resident. Forest Gate Works is looking to support the local community of East London whilst returning to work in the recovery of the pandemic, providing a small, safe and secure co-working environment with a combination 28 desk and breakfast bar spaces available.
The aim of Forest Gate Works is to provide the comfort and familiarity of a home environment, whilst also providing access to all the facilities and services of an office space.
Our three main principles of the Forest Gate Works ethos are:
Promotion of health and wellbeing in the workplace: Forest Gate Works will provide a healthy work environment with the inclusion a small outdoor garden, communal zones to promote collaboration between different businesses and a dedicated local workspace to encourage a healthy work-life balance for the local community of East London.
Creation of a local circular economy: Forest Gate Works adopts a holistic approach creating a hub which promotes connection and collaboration between local businesses. We aim to create a local loyalty card, providing discounts to other local businesses for the members of Forest Gate Works.
Social, Environmental and Economical Sustainability: Forest Gate Works prioritises and integrates social, economic and environmental aspects to create a model for sustainability. Environmental aspects have been considered in the physical construction of Forest Gate Works through the use of a retrofitting scheme within an existing arch structure in order to minimise carbon emissions for the new co-working space. Social sustainability will be considered through providing networking opportunities within the co-working environment for local professionals, and; Forest Gate Works will aid economic sustainability by promoting and collaborating with existing local businesses in the surrounding community.
Forest Gate Works will include various desk rental areas (including longer, more permanent desks and shorter, more infrequent desks), a Entrance Seating Area, a kitchenette with free coffee and tea, Breakfast Bar, communal meeting table, Accessible WC, Shower Room/WC, Front Garden seating area, rear Garden area and plans for a private exterior meeting space.
From its conception, Forest Gate Works has prompted discussion on how this space can not only service professionals but also the wider community and has proven a catalyst for local partnership working, already providing an increase in footfall for other local businesses and attracting the interest of additional creative nomads.
Forest Gate Works has been designed as a flexible space that can be adapted to suit a range of uses; acting as a lecture theatre, entertainment or meeting space, education space or a space to test out new ideas. The space will be occupied as a co-working space (Monday to Friday 9am-6pm) allowing the space to function flexibly at the weekend or evenings for community-based events, educational activities, or private hire. We are looking forward to integrating Forest Gate Works into the already amazing community of Forest Gate and we hope to meet you soon!
If you would like to access our booking system or get in touch about private hire, please feel free to visit our website via https://www.forestgate.works/, email via hello@forestgate.works or follow our Instagram @forestgateworks for regular updates.
Alternatively, feel free to drop into Forest Gate Works and someone from the team will be happy to have a chat!
