Tailoring Academy

client: Fashion Enter and Haringey Council, budget: £220K, contractor: Diamond Build, funding: Mayor of London

The Tailoring Academy is a new working- and learning environment that was designed to co-host fine tailoring production and NVQ accredited training and apprenticeships. The project supports Fashion Enter’s mission of bringing garment production for high street brands back to London. Located in South Tottenham, the social enterprise aims to revive a momentous trade and respond to a growing demand for more sustainable and traceable garment supply chains.

Our design concept utilises a folded timber and glass screen to envelop pockets of workspace that accommodate the various design-, production- and learning processes in the otherwise open-plan warehouse. The design maximises the visual inter-dependency between study and production spaces encouraging skills transfer. The aim was to create a warm learning environment that also responds to the functional needs of high end tailoring production. A distinct colour scheme presents clues about the uses of spaces in the building. A loading bay has been converted into a light and welcoming atrium and exhibition space giving the Tailoring Academy a public face on the street and communicating the organisation’s ethos to the wider public.