Making Spaces
Nestled behind B&Q and the Hornby Hobbies building is a world of unseen industry. Those household names may dominate the sightlines while en route to and from Westwood Cross but a veritable hive of industry takes place on a daily basis on Westwood Industrial Estate. It may surprise readers to discover that those industries are as varied and diverse as bread and beer making, timber supplies and laser cutting, fuel pump and electronics manufacturing, as well as services including dog grooming and aerial osteopathy - to name but a few! One relatively new venture to have taken residence on the site is Studio J1H, a creative work and event space packed with character and rich details galore. That is in no small part to it’d founder, Bazz Kay, who spent the winter months converting the vast unit, as well as the first creative residents to rent studios, who include Tiny’s Tacos, artist Kevin English, Wilder Candles, and former Old Town retailer, The Lightkeeper.
As is the case with the industrial site itself, it’s always worth peeling back the layers, because more often than not there’s an interesting story waiting to be discovered. Even a cursory glance around Studio J1H throws up an array of interesting objects, paintings and products, not least the pieces on display in Bazz’s own workshop, with its glass walls that temptingly invite a closer look. Doing so reveals metal working machinery and extensive racks of tools at the more conventional albeit impressive end of the scale, right through to train pistons, a hotrod crankshaft, an array of skateboards and, at the time of writing, a chopper motorcycle. As the evidence suggests, Bazz is a multi-talented and multi-hyphenated maker, although metal and upholstery have long been in his wheelhouse. The latter is where it all began in his native Essex, but 12 years in he found that his interest in making and fixing furniture, curtains and other soft furnishings was being distracted by an entirely separate interest; motorbikes and off-road racing cars.
But it wasn’t long before he combined his passion and unique hands-on skills by upholstering bike seats and making specialist components for high-end hogs. Over the last decade, he’s been almost exclusively customising motorbikes from top to tail, be that the paint job, fabricating parts or the upholstery, something he was still doing when moving to Margate in 2021. Indeed, when he first took on the unit he was going to convert it into a motorbike workspace and bar called Hawg House, but having begun to integrate himself into the local community in Cliftonville he found himself reconsidering his career path once again. As he explains, “I’d moved to Margate for all the usual things - the nicer pace of life, being by the sea and to feel like I was part of a community, but the latter had a big impact on me right from the beginning.” So, having opted to make the space available to the wider creative community of the town, Studio J1H is now open to the public, with prints, artwork and furniture available in the front-of-house shop and coffee bar with the promise of events, pop-ups and workshops to follow. With the opening of neighbours Northdown Brewery’s new taproom space and full-scale train museum, The One:One Collection, soon to follow on the site, Westwood Industrial Estate is proving to be well worth a trip.
A little closer to town is another smaller but decidedly older industrial spot, which houses a making space of an entirely different kind. Again, even passersby on the daily school run may be oblivious to the goings-on in Fullers Yard on Victoria Road, but the period courtyard is home to a host of modern technology behind the door of The Geekery. Laser cutters, 3D printers and an array of computer equipment are surrounded by hand tools, cables and prototypes, all of which are framed by a wall jam packed with small drawers that themselves are chocked full of electronic components. Owner and inventor of the space (among other things) Matt Mapleston calls this the “The Wall of Joy,” and even for those less technologically inclined, the allure to open them up to discover what treats and possibilities lie within in is too great to resist.
A systems engineer by training, Matt began work on the space during the first lockdown and initially opened to the public in June 2020. It was driven by the realisation that while there is an audience of like-minded tech-savvy folks in the town (and beyond), many may be missing out on the hands-on mentoring and invaluable knowledge sharing that he has experienced throughout his working life. So again, driven by the idea of sharing time and space within the creative community, he assembled equipment and trialled a hot desking set-up where those interested in geeking out on Raspberry Pi’s, rapid prototyping and coding could drop in and experiment. The space has since proven to be a versatile and fruitful environment to run workshops, with local school groups and adult education programs such as Open School East and The Margate School getting involved.
Alongside this, Matt instigated the Thanet Technology Community, a tech club that meets monthly in the space to talk all things tech. The success of these collegiate gatherings has shifted the focus of the studio, and while the hot desks have now instead become extended workshop space and include even more equipment such as the dual action Snapmaker (which is a laser and 3D printer), The Geekery is still an available resource for all. Just like the open-source technology he and his fellow geeks are tapping into, there is an openness to Matt’s approach, as he explains, “We’re living in magic times. Not only is the output of these machines a form of modern sorcery, so too is the availability of information to learn, understand and work with them. That’s really important in bridging the digital divide that has been forming across parts of our society over the past number of years. I’m often asked to help with the basic digital skills required by everybody for everyday life and from there I love sharing the sheer joy to be had by making with technology.” As such, anyone is welcome to go and rent the machines, and Matt’s expertise, and attempt to make almost anything their imagination will allow.
So if you’re interested in making, as well as getting off the beaten track, there are world’s of discovery to be found across the town. Why not start by looking at the social feeds below - it could be the beginning of a new creative journey:
Studio J1H
@studioj1h
The Geekery
@thegeekery.uk
This article was first published by Design Insider.