A new home for the creative community has been completed in Watchet, Somerset. East Quay was designed by Invisible Studio and Ellis Williams for the Onion Collective CIC – a local female-led, not-for-profit social enterprise. It provides a new cultural anchor for the town and the surrounding area, featuring two contemporary art galleries, 11 artist studios, a paper mill, a geology workshop, a print studio, a restaurant, an education space, and five accommodation pods arranged across the top of the building.
The center draws inspiration from both the built environment and the natural landscape. A solid plinth reflects the harbor wall and nearby cliffs, containing the reception, gallery space, restaurant, and artists’ studios. External stairs lead up to the upper level which connects directly to coastal paths, allowing East Quay to become a porous object that can be climbed, traversed, and explored. The ground-floor restaurant opens out onto a new public space where local people and visitors alike can sit and enjoy views back into town, as well as the boats in the marina and the sea beyond.
The larger elements contain workshops for makers and artists, as well as the Creator Space – a unique learning environment developed by Year 8 students from local schools working alongside architects PEARCE+Faegan and environmental psychologist Helen King.
A series of characterful and idiosyncratic structures sit above the base, referencing the eclectic and often unusual buildings within Watchet. These are clad in simple robust materials as a nod to the industrial nature of the harbor and the activity it contains.
Five pods have been created, two of which stand on stilts above the building, that can be booked by adventurous travelers, providing an unusual form of tourism for the area.
The interiors, also designed by architect-makers PEARCE+Faegan, each reflect Watchet in some way; including an Object Exchange pod, Stories, and Imagination pod, a Luxury Industrial pod, a Playful pod, and a Participatory Art Pod. East Quay will also run year-round events, offering music, theatre performances, art workshops, courses, and film nights to keep you entertained during your time in Watchet.
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