New premises for Norwich Hackspace

[Marion Catlin]

Just to make sure that everyone is up-to-date with the Norwich Hackspace plans for a new home. We have been happily meeting at the Men's Shed for over a year and although we are very grateful for that 'home' we need our own space and more access to enable us to grow. As we started looking for new space, we were offered premises nearby in Muspole Street on a semi-permanent basis on a site that will be developed in a few years time. In the meantime, the developer wishes it to be used by creative and community organisations to help to build up activity in an affordable way.

There have been a few twists and turns as the developer has only recently bought the sites (both just off Duke Street at St Mary's Works and St George's Works) and they have had to change their development plans as they have discovered more about the site. Here is a post in the Evening News about it http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/property/revealed_100m_vision_for_former_norwich_shoe_factory_1_4599324

We have been offered a space on the ground floor of part of St George's Works called Lion House in Muspole Street and assuming that there are no hitches,  it would give us the home we need. We have also ordered and paid for a lasercutter (Just Add Sharks Greyfin A2) which is waiting for delivery as soon as we get the go-ahead to move in, which hopefully will be soon - we should be signing around middle of July.

The first job will be to clear out some old carpets, paint the walls (of some of the rooms), move the stuff from Pitt Street and start assembling tables and building benches so if you are interested in being involved in developing our new space, please keep some weekends free at the backend of July and through August as we will be organising some work parties. We also hope to keep a reciprocal arrangement with Men's Shed so that we can continue to have access to equipment such as the forge and large table saws etc.

At the new place, we will have increased access in terms of time as well as space. We will continue to have member sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays and once we are established, we will work out increased access for regular attending members. There is a team of people working on RFID entry and member management systems. Once we have settled in and got everything up and running, we will be seeking new members, which will enable us to increase our equipment and facilities.

It is an exciting time for Norwich Hackspace and we will keep you informed as we go along

all best

Marion Catlin

​Founder member

Norwich Hackspace​

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

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