Ross Williams Director, Elisa Harris Studio Manager, Alan Livingston President, John Pulford Chair. Credit: Anthony Greenwood Photography
Since 2002 we have been working with Cornwall Council, Cornwall Development Company, Arts Council England, Redruth Town Council and the European Regional Development Fund to develop the former Redruth Grammar School into offices and managed workspaces.
We bought the premises from the County Council in 2005 and gradually converted the former classrooms into a home for a community of about 100 artists and makers. The opening of 50 new studios in the Percy Williams Building has enabled our already established community to expand and diversify further still, with about 180 people now working on site. This is Phase 1 of a master-plan which will take us quite a few years to complete; we are yet to secure funding for the later stages which will involve refurbishing the two fine 1907 granite buildings and developing further new-build studios.
This is a flagship scheme to promote the best of the Creative Industries in Cornwall and was funded by the European Regional Development Fund with a mortgage from Triodos Bank as well as other local investors.
Our aim is to create a nationally significant cluster of businesses and practitioners on site who will raise Cornwall’s reputation for creative excellence, work together to maximise knowledge exchange and innovative collaboration, act as a magnet to attract more businesses to our area and contribute to the regeneration of Redruth.
