A former beer factory in the Royal Docks is set to become London’s newest creative workspace hub, which will open later this year. The Silver Building, from SODA and Nick Hartwright, will be one of the first elements of the Royal Docks’ regeneration, which will continue throughout the next 15 years.

Brutalism is quickly becoming one of London's most celebrated styles, with the love for these post-war concrete structures growing over recent years. This project will build on the city’s hunger for not only iconic modernist buildings, but for creative spaces.

The project bears the hallmarks of most regeneration hubs in London, providing cafes, galleries, function rooms, breakout spaces, studios, and workshops. The importance of these community-friendly creative hubs within London cannot be ignored; this project is a great solution to the scarcity of available workspaces for start-ups and small businesses in the city. With 50,000 square-foot of existing space, this building will certainly be able to contribute to this need.

Despite its prime location in West Silverstone, between the DLR railway and the Thames, the existing structure has been left derelict for over two decades after being used by many businesses including British Oil and Cake Mills, and a beer factory. The Silver Building proposal celebrates this raw aesthetic and the industrial heritage of the area through materiality, and a return to a community of makers.

Nick Hartwright, a social entrepreneur who specialises in delivering high quality mixed-use affordable spaces, has partnered with award-winning studio, SODA, who are formed of architects and designers alike, to create a project which has really drawn from the expertise of all the team.

Sadiq Khan, a strong supporter of regeneration, said that he is "delighted to support projects such as The Silver Building in Silvertown – the first step in bringing a creative community to the Royal Docks and enabling London’s emerging artists to flourish so that we can maintain our position as the world’s capital of culture.”

With this project marking the beginning of further regeneration within in the immediate area and in neighbouring Greenwich Peninsula, it is exciting to think of the creativity this project will harbour, and how London will look in the years to come.