Back in May 2022 we were delighted to announce that we were successful in our application to Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme for the next phase of Reimagining Rich Mix.
Reimagining Rich Mix is all about making the most of our building and giving people more ways to connect with us. We want our building to be as inclusive and vibrant as we are, with an inviting welcome, sociable spaces, and places for creative chatter and collaboration – a meeting point for the cultures and communities of East London and beyond.
Our first phase saw the redevelopment of parts of our first floor, with the creation of a Cinema Bar, dedicated Creative Engagement space, The Lab, artist Green Room and a visual arts gallery space. Find out more about the first phase of Reimagining Rich Mix.
This next phase is focusing on improving the welcome and accessibility of our ground floor and offering more inspiring opportunities for curated arts, learning, collaboration and conversation.
Our proposals for the ground floor look to:
- Open up and create a new entrance on Redchurch Street, with a green area in our yard
- Improve our welcome for visitors and make it easier to find your way round
- Improve our access for disabled visitors and team members, including the creation of a Changing Places toilet*
- Create a new visual arts and community space, and area for eating and drinking
We hope that these plans will address some of our biggest challenges as a neighbourhood arts centre:
- An uninviting welcome and institutional feeling
- A lack of visibility of the work we do
- Confusing layout for our audiences, artists and participants
- A need to improve access for our audiences and employees
- A need to improve some of our mechanical and electrical systems, in turn reducing our environmental impact
- A need to improve our offer to welcome more people into our building, making us more sustainable and supporting our charitable work
But we want to hear from you!
What could we change on the ground floor that might make your experience visiting us even better?
Would you welcome a new visual arts and community space to visit?
Do our plans get it right or are we missing something important to you?
We are speaking to all the different groups of people who visit us, work with us, live near us, collaborate with us to hear feedback on our ground floor plans. Your voices matter – as an arts centre rooted in our community, we want to ensure we invest in spaces that you need or want to visit.
Tell us your thoughts
Visit a desk in our foyer where you can find our plans and information about what we are proposing. There you will also be able to post any anonymous feedback which will come straight back to us and inform how we develop our plans.
Tue 24 Jan – Sun 5 Feb: Drop-in anytime between 9am – 10pm
Or drop-in to one of the following sessions where members of the Rich Mix management and senior teams can talk you through our proposals:
- Tue 24 Jan: 8.30-9.30am
- Thu 26 Jan: 1-2pm
- Sun 29 Jan: 10-11am
- Mon 30 Jan: 6-7pm
- Wed 1 Feb: 8.30-9.30am
- Sat 4 Feb: 4-5pm
*A Changing Places toilet is a facility for people with multiple learning disabilities, as well as people with other physical disabilities such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis who often need extra equipment and space to allow them to use the toilets safely and comfortably. The closest Changing Places toilet to Rich Mix is 1.1 miles away.
Visualising our ground floor plans
Here are some images that give an impression of our plans for our updated ground floor.
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- This is the view from Bethnal Green Road looking through, and into the refurbished and extended ground floor, to Redchurch Street. Our visual arts and community space will be visible from the street, telling more of a story of the work we do as an arts centre.
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- This is the view as you enter from Bethnal Green Road. We want the entrance to feel spacious and welcoming, with a bigger box office, which will be accessible for team members and visitors.
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- This is the view of the new café and visual arts and community space. You can see straight out onto Redchurch Street. We are still exploring what menu we might offer but we know we want it to be affordable and family-friendly. We want this space to be a creative hub, hosting our exhibitions, as well as local community meet-ups and occasional events.
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- This is a view of our planned new entrance on Redchurch Street. Features include: a new welcome and entrance in and view through to our visual arts and community space and café; a green roof on the extension; a growing hedge and fence replacing the wall; gates that can be opened whilst we are open to the public but that can be closed again in the evenings for security; space for vans and cars for our deliveries (which we will limit to mornings only)
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- This is the view of our planned outdoor café area. We are proposing that this would be open to the public between 10am – 9pm daily. If you would like more information on how we plan to manage this space please email feedback@richmix.org.uk.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us on feedback@richmix.org.uk.
