With the exception of hires and all studios in our Ilford and Colchester sites, in order to view a studio in person you must be registered,

The studios listed under ‘Vacant Studios’ are also available to artists currently in a SPACE studio who wish to transfer.

The website is the only place available studios are listed.

This can take up to three weeks to process. We need to know about your work, your history as an artist and what you need from a studio.

The process is:

1. Submit your registration form to us
2. We review your information
3. If your practice is suitable for our studios then we contact you to pay the £15 registration fee

Once registered you can then contact us to view available studios.

You do not need to register with SPACE to view our Colchester Studios at 37 Queen Street.

Instead, Colchester operates a Studio Interest List, those on the list are invited to view studios & make an application when there is availability.

Only those who are successfully allocated a studio are required to register with SPACE.

Please contact jack@spacestudios.org.uk to be added to our Colchester Studio Interest List.

No. You need to wait until you are fully registered with SPACE before you can view available studios.

No, SPACE does not operate any priority lists.  You will need to check the website yourself regularly for available studios.

When new buildings are coming up, open viewing days are held for the whole building, these dates are also posted in the Available Studios section.

Studio availability is hard to predict and demand is high,  while your registration date may be a factor in studio allocation,  artists who are proactively looking for a studio will invariably find one sooner than those who are not.  We also take into account different factors such as type of practice, what stage you are at in your career, scale of output and urgent need eg owing to forthcoming exhibitions.

If you are prepared to take on a studio share or a sub-let you may find a space more quickly than waiting for a studio exactly tailored to you.  In these cases the tenant decides who they wish to sub-let to or share with and routine registration length does not apply.

However, having taken on a sub-let or share  does not give you priority for applying for vacant studios. Your initial registration date may stand if there is a lot of other interest in the same studio.  NB sub-letting is limited to 12 months.

Allocation of studios is not made immediately. Viewing is left open for at least two or three weeks to ensure all interested parties have visited and as many appointments as practicable have been accommodated. At the end of that time the studio will be allocated. Other criteria such as a credit check or suitability of work practice may also be taken into account as well as length of time registered.

Follow the instruction on the website to email to viewing@spacestudios.org.uk with the building name and studio no. in the subject header of the email.

We will either hold viewings in a group or individually, or, if the studio site has an artist key holder you may be given their contact details to make an appointment with them to view the studio.  Artist key holders are artists with a studio at the site who have offered to provide this service. They are not employees of SPACE, they do not have any additional information about the studio, they keep studio hours and carry no sway in allocating the studio! It is important to keep an appointment made with a key holder.

This means the studio is in the process of being allocated.

You do not need to follow up, you will be notified if you are invited to view a studio or when it has been allocated. Either way you will hear from us.

In cases where there is more than one person interested in the same studio it will either be allocated to the artist registered longest, or to the one who best matches other criteria for that particular studio or whose practice is compatible with other artists in the building.

Top priority may also on occasion be given to artists currently in a SPACE studio who need to be moved owing to planned building works or maintenance.

If the studio is a share or a sub-let the contact details will generally appear on the website. It is up to you to contact the individual tenant to view the studio and discuss their terms. Studio allocation is at the discretion of the tenant and length of time registered does not necessarily apply.

If you are prepared to take on a share or a sub-let you may find space more quickly than waiting for a studio exactly tailored to you.

However having taken on a sub-let or share previously does not give you priority for applying for vacant studios. Your initial registration date may stand if there is a lot of other interest in the same studio.

NB sub-letting is usually limited to 12 months, and there is no right of succession if the tenant gives up the studio for either sharers or sublessees.  SPACE will relet the studio in the usual way.  (See also ‘How soon will I get a studio?’)

SPACE is an arts charity providing lower than market rents and is primarily dedicated to helping visual artists which is used to mean, fine artists, painters, sculptors, printmakers, installation artists, etc.

Certain sites have specific interest communities, eg. designer-makers at Sara Lane studios and at this building only we do accept original designers, eg. textile designers and furniture designers. However even at this site we do not accept practices that are purely commercial i.e. printing T-shirts or manufacturing an already designed product.

We also do not accept office-based practices that may require heavy use of the telephone, loud meetings and conversations or frequent visitors if the studio is in a building where sound travels easily as this is disturbing to other artists and a security risk.

Studios are not soundproofed and therefore we can only accept artists working in sound installations and video if they use headphones.

One third of our sites have studios with disabled access and adapted toilets. When studios with these facilities become available an artist with disabilities requiring these provisions will always be given priority.

The information that you give on the registration form is there to help us decide what size to make studios if we take on a new building, and does not in any way affect your choice of any vacant studio that may become available.

You will need to make an appointment to sign the tenancy agreement either at the SPACE studios office or by zoom or phone call. Allow at least one hour for going through the papers. A tenancy is an important, legally binding commitment and should not be rushed through. You may need to bring your deposit of one month’s rent plus the first month’s rent if applicable.

Over the years we have increased security measures on all of our sites. However the safety of the studios relies on tenants double-locking doors and closing windows before leaving. We rely on artists’ vigilance and cooperation to maintain high security standards.

A tenancy is for a maximum term of 5 years. There is a one month minimum. If you change your mind it is a simple process to give up the studio.

One calendar month. You should give written notice to SPACE on the first of the month and move out and return keys on the last day of that month.

All charges relating to the property: rent, business rates, building insurance, professional fees (lawyers, surveyors etc), weekly refuse collection, water rates, maintenance and administration.

Heating (with some exceptions), electricity and contents insurance.

Electricity is sub-metered, so each studio has an individual meter which is read every six months and an invoice sent to the tenant.

For some studio buildings (if each studio in that building has been given an individual rateable value) you will need to complete a simple form called an SBRR (Small Business Rates Relief) for the local authority business rates department.  This will qualify you for 100% rates relief.

Generally they don’t.

There are a notable exceptions: Haymerle Road and Deborah House have full central heating during the winter months from Oct — April.

Studios 1-22 at Sara Lane, Bridget Riley ground floor studios 1-8 and Havil Street studios also have background heating for a several hours a day between Oct — April.

Ground Floor Studios at Triangle share the office hours heating.

Arlington studios in Camden and the studios in Stoke Newington Library and Azof St have full heating/electricity included in the rent.

Studios at Timber Wharf have electric heating installed but which is paid for directly to the electricity supplier.

SPACE does not provide contents insurance for studio tenants. It is at the tenant’s discretion to provide their own insurance.