Multi-million-pound cultural hub to ‘change way people see Luton’

Thousands of square metres of new creative workspace and over a hundred creative industry jobs are potentially in store for Luton, as the town prepares to transform a disused factory district into a “progressive, diverse and refreshingly authentic” cultural hub.

Coordinators Luton Culture Trust hope the £5.17m project – which will revamp three former hat factories, including the Hat Factory Arts Centre – will be self-sustaining, attract 135,000 more visits to the town per year, and change the way people think about Luton.

The cultural district is located close to Luton’s mainland railway station, London-Luton Airport and the M1.

“I’ve spent a lot of time working in places like Newcastle-Gateshead, and Luton is like a northern town in the south,” said Marie Kirbyshaw, Chief Executive of the Trust. “The currently vacant factories haven’t yet seen the artist-led regeneration in the same way those places in the North have, and I believe it’s all about to happen in Luton.

“We’re particularly interested in re-positioning people’s views of the town.”

Financial sustainability

The Trust claims it has produced a self-funding business model for the project, which has been backed by Arts Council England (ACE), the local economic partnership (SEMLEP Local Growth Fund), the Heritage Lottery Fund, and partners including Luton Borough Council.

The three factory buildings will form part of a ‘creative ecology’, with creative business tenants progressing from Hat Works, through the Hat Factory Arts Centre and onto Hat House as they grow and require more space.

Kirbyshaw explained tenants would make use of specialist equipment and networks and pay full commercial rent – which will be used to subsidise the Trust’s art and cultural activity.

“All income generated by the creative workspaces, ticketed events, hires and services will be fully re-invested back into the cultural activities, operations, promotions, conservation and refurbishment of the buildings, as well as new technology and events,” she said.

Work on the project will begin in 2018 and finish by 2021, with the Trust expecting 90% occupancy and a £1m annual turnover by 2022.

She continued: “We know arts centres don’t make money – that’s not their function. Their role is to connect people to the arts and culture.

“Our cultural ecology will be a really successful way of maintaining a high-quality artistic product. The income generated will pay for Luton’s cultural vibrancy.”

Arts centre re-design

The arts centre will close for 12 months from April 2018 for a ‘navigational’ revamp, including:

• Creating one main entrance to the building, addressing the current “confusing” layout
• A new foyer will be added for the studio space
• A new education and skills space will be built, to engage larger groups of learners
• The basement comedy bar will be refurbished
• The main live music space will be soundproofed, allowing a wider variety of simultaneous programming
• New bursary spaces will be created to house resident companies or resident artists.

During the period of adjustment, artistic programming usually scheduled for the 90-seat theatre and 200-capacity event space will move to other venues run by the Trust – such as the nearby Library Theatre – and the Trust will create work out-of-venue.

Gavin O’Brien, CEO of local design agency Clearhead, said, “Ten years ago, when I started up Clearhead, there were very restricted opportunities for start-ups.

“Even now creative young people are having to look for opportunities outside of Luton; but the development of the Hat District, and the focus on supporting and nurturing talent, means this will change.”