Heatherwick studio has opened the doors to Making House, its home in the heart of King’s Cross. More than just a design studio, Making House is a place to engage, inspire, and share the joy of making. The public are invited into the four-storey light-filled building – one that embodies the studio’s mission to make the world around us better for everyone.
“In the past, we were always a bit of a hidden secret,” said Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick studio. “This new studio is our way of opening ourselves up to the street. It’s about sharing the passion of the 250 people who work here – who make things, dream up things, draw things, bake things, and have extraordinary conversations.”
Located on Argyle Street in King’s Cross, Making House is a total transformation of the 1970s office building previously occupied by Diesel Industries. Through its large street-facing windows and timber facade, passersby can catch glimpses of the lively, experimental world inside – offering a rare peek at the studio’s design process and history of the studio hosted on the street level.
The ground floor holds a treasure trove of models and objects from past and future projects – from the full-scale model of the rear of the well-known London bus to the prototype of an unusual lift button, and even a slice of another city – a ceramic column mock-up from the studio’s latest project in Xi’an, China. One of Thomas Heatherwick’s earliest creations, Pavilion – a small polycarbonate building with a swirling, curved roof – now serves as a meeting room amongst the models.
Stretching along the ground floor is the studio’s workshop, where ideas are tested and models take shape. The blue stairwell at the back playfully features distorted portraits of team members, while timber shelves brim with objects either made or collected over the years.
Heatherwick says the studio has a mission beyond its core design work:
“My dream is that in the future some people who work to make the world more human, engaging and joyful might say, ‘Oh yes, I remember looking through those windows. It made me want to study design.’ That would be the best outcome.”
The studio recently launched In The Making, a three-year creative education programme. Aiming to reach 600 young people aged 10–14 it is one of the largest initiatives of its kind by any design practice in the UK. The workshops’ goal is to inspire young people to see themselves as creative. The studio has made the educational materials free in the hope of encouraging the country’s 6,000 architecture practices in engaging with local schools.
Last year, the studio welcomed 1600 people through its doors during the Open House Festival, an annual celebration of London’s architecture and neighbourhoods.
