The Culture Trust are delighted to announce that we’ve been awarded a share of a new £5 million fund from @ArchHFundEng and @HeritageFundUK. This funding will pave the way for us to expand the Hat District creating a valuable range of new spaces for creative and community uses.
Looking for new creative co-working space in central Luton?
Aaron Spendelow (left) and Oz Azubuine (right), two of our first Hat District Creative Pioneers now working at Hat Works, Luton. Image: mubsta.com
Be among creatives in our new, affordable workspace at Hat Works. Develop your business, idea, service or product in The Hat District, Luton’s vibrant cultural quarter, brimming with hat making heritage.
Book light, airy new spaces in the carefully restored Hat Works, believed to be Luton’s oldest hat factory at 47 Guildford Street, LU1 2NJ.
Read more about our new Hat Works creative workspaces and how to apply below.
Welcome to Hat Works at 47 Guildford Street, The Hat District, Just 2 minutes walk from Luton’s main bus and train stations.
Image: mubsta.com
Hat Works creative workspace
Hat Works is a refurbished workspace for creative businesses looking for affordable hot desks in The Hat District, central Luton. This newly designed co-working space is ideal for micro-businesses, graduates and entrepreneurs to develop their creative ideas, services or products.
Set within a stunning former hat factory, 2 minutes from Luton’s central bus and railway stations, Hat Works offers a charity-led home for creative industries to grow their business for future success. Hat Works offers 65 designated and bookable workspaces with three levels of membership from just £5 a day. Spaces are flexible and limited to the creative industries.
Hat Works membership benefits
Hat Works is in the cultural heart of Luton, the Hat District with The Hat Factory Arts Centre, pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants all on your doorstop. Just 2 minutes’ walk from Luton’s main bus and train stations. Start your new creative journey in Luton’s oldest hat factory at 47 Guildford Street.
Access to book workspaces with a choice of three levels of membership: Social, Workshop and Studio starting from just £5 a day
Welcoming staff in an impressive visitor reception/retail area with opportunities to sell, exhibit and promote your idea, product or service
Serviced office space, super-fast broadband, an online booking system and a separate meeting room
Use of a vibrant member-only social area with kitchen, dining and comfy work area
Priority booking onto network events plus access to mentoring, training and funding
Access to the wider Hat District creative community at the Hat Factory arts centre, Storefront gallery and Hat House (opposite) creative industry space
A warm welcome from Daisy at Hat Works.
Image: mubsta.com
How to apply
We’re delighted you’re thinking about joining our creative community in the Hat District by becoming a member of Hat Works.
As well as access to the brand new workspace, you’ll be part of a creative community with like-minded entrepreneurs, graduates and start-ups.
We value the input of members in our creative community in the Hat District and we’d love to find more about you, your ideas and creative ambitions.
Once you’ve competed our membership application form, the Hat Works membership panel will assess whether Hat Works is the right place for you to grow your business.
The questions on the form will help you demonstrate why Hat Works is the right space for you. Additionally, the panel will be assessing:
Does the idea or micro-business fit into one of the 12 Creative Industries we’ve defined below (see grid)
Is it clear from the application that the Member will add to the cultural and creative community of the workspace?
Will the Member regularly be using the space and making the most of the Hat Works and Hat District offer?
Will the Member reflect and embrace our PRIDE values - Passionate, Relevant, Inspiring, Distinctive and Ethical?
The Membership Panel will assess applications on a weekly basis. Please allow at least 7 days for your application to be processed.
To apply to become a member of Hat Works, click apply below.
Our spaces
Our Future in HD
The Hat District Future-scape is a co-authored paper setting out a vision, principles and project ideas for this area. The creative and curatorial team hope that this paper will ignite discussion, debate and positivity about what could be in our Town Centre. It’s bold and unashamedly utopian.
The Hat District Future-scape co-authors are:
Justin Doherty - Filmmaker, proprietor of The Bear Club and heritage property owner
Nick Gibson - Independent Artisan trader/producer, Chair of the Culture Trust
Marie Kirbyshaw – Curator, Artist and Culture Trust Chief Executive
Geoff Mulgan - Cultural planner, local resident, Chief Exec of NESTA
Anita Nadkarni - Architect and Urban designer, Hat Factory refurb architect
Hedley Roberts - Artist and Head of Art School, University of Bedfordshire
Matthew Shaul – Director of Departure Lounge and Storefront Gallery Curator
You can download the Hat District Future-scape 2020 here.
All images used are for illustrative purposes only.
We hope you reference this paper and in doing so acknowledge creative sources.
For high resolution images please contact hatdistrict@lutonculture.com
‘ Promise’ By Mark Titchner and Jonathan Barnbrook
