Chy an Creet
St Ives, Cornwall
Short explanation of Social Design’s involvement in the project. Photos below can be replaced / removed added to. If more explanatory text needed, use the CASE STUDY template instead.
CLIENT
Camilla Dixon
“I was determined to do this if I could, partly to restore part of St Ives’ cultural history, but even more because it is so difficult for creatives to work in St Ives now, due to the lack of available accommodation, because so many houses are no longer lived in but used as income from holiday letting. I have a waiting list of people needing accommodation, and have heard that often influential artists have not been able to take up residencies offered at the world famous Porthmeor Studios, or Leach Pottery, because of this problem.”
CONTEXT
A House with History
The extension to this House of Multiple Occupancy, is intended to extend the building’s vital history. Chy an Creet was built in 1922, immediately opposite Leach Pottery - to house it’s first manager Edgar Skinner and his wife, Edith. The couple were instrumental in the development of Leach Pottery. They introduced the now famous Bernard Leach to St Ives and its Handicrafts Guild, plus the local philanthropist Francis Horne, who provided the funds for Leach and Shoji Hamada to set up the pottery in 1920.
The apprenticeships which still run at Leach Pottery today, over 100 years later, were started by Skinner - inter-connecting Leach with Chy an Creet through residencies.
After Edgar died the house had a spell as holiday accommodation, until our client, Camilla, bought it back for the art scene with the intention to restore it to its former use.
Camilla has since transformed Chy an Creet into a House of Multiple Occupancy. Numerous artists, designers and craftspeople, on residencies and/or employed at Leach Pottery, Porthmeor Studios, The Tate or simply developing their own practice within the creative and wider community of St Ives - have passed through its rooms and a number are now housed for the long term. St Ives has one of the greatest histories in art and it could sadly end up totally Disneyfied but for now we have people like Camilla, fighting to keep it alive.
BRIEF
Studio Dwelling
Our brief was to add an extra studio dwelling to the HMO, to support an additional artist.
DESIGN
Title
The new studio is connected to the rest of the house, providing the artist with access to shared facilities; the kitchen, lounge and working art studio etc.