Collective, Camden | Dexter Moren Associates

Specifically designed for small creative businesses, Collective transforms a redundant warehouse in Camden into a "wireless, wall less" office. Flexibility is at the core of the concept with a moveable internal structure enabling the space to be quickly reconfigured - Collective can be a studio, meeting room, or catwalk within the same day. Working to a limited budget, the office has been designed as a semi-permanent structure. A series of platforms on industrial casters separated by white panels, also on casters can be stacked and positioned to provide privacy through to open spaces. The entrance features a lowered ceiling cut from spruce ply, a playful take on its use in building sites to reflect its temporary nature. It also acts to create a dramatic feeling when arriving into the main work zone. The warehouse has been completely striped back to reveal its former use as a bakery, emphasising the roof trusses. Reclaimed furniture and set lighting is featured throughout. The concept arose from the success of the pop-up shop scheme launched by Camden Town Unlimited in 2009, in which Dexter Moren Associates were involved, which temporarily placed creative businesses in empty retail units along the High Street, an intervention aimed to stimulate economic growth during the recession.