The Burslem School of Art Trust

Burslem School of Art Trust

The Burslem School of Art Trust is a company limited by guarantee with charitable aims based at the Burslem School of Art in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

The Burslem School of Art is a £1.2 million funded project which aims to develop and restore one of Stoke-on-Trent’s cultural assets, a grade II listed building, which started life as a school of art in a prosperous 19th Century manufacturing town in need of a skilled workforce for the ceramics industry.

Following years of dereliction, the Burslem School of Art building was refurbished in 2000. The restoration and refurbishment of the building included a new circulation tower to the rear of the building, incorporating a lift and stairs to all floors, new toilets and plant room, new fire escapes, kitchen extension and new openings in the façade. The building re-opened in November 2000, managed under contract by Burslem Community Development Trust and with Stoke-on-Trent College as an anchor tenant occupying the first and second floors. Burslem School of Art Trust leases the building from Stoke-on-Trent Council on a peppercorn basis.
The building now has full occupancy, with a range of creative industry tenants, coupled with a diverse program of arts and creative exhibitions and events. It employs one full time Chief Executive, one full time administrative assistant and one part time caretaker, one full time project supervisor and five part time project staff, as well as playing an ongoing role in the development of the arts and employment in the area.

The Building

The design of the building allowed maximum daylight to enter for the artists working within – it has huge north-facing windows and a glass ceilinged central atrium.

The School of Art was successful and well respected, establishing talents and reputations of many ceramic designers. However, industrial and political changes following the Second World War started the School's decline with the bringing together of education under the Local Education Authority. The School was annexed to North Staffordshire Polytechnic and then to Stoke-on-Trent College. A further blow came when, in the 1990s, educational buildings were transferred out of LEA ownership.
Faced with the acquisition of numerous properties on several sites, Stoke-on-Trent College carried out condition surveys of all its buildings to establish whether buildings could be brought up to an acceptable condition within their resources. Unfortunately, the refurbishment required to bring the School of Art in line with the access and fire regulations was beyond the College’s budget. The College was forced to close and attempt to dispose of the building.

The Refurbishment

In 1994, the Burslem Community Development Trust established the building as an early priority project to support the development of arts, culture and community enterprise in the town. The vision also incorporated the Wedgwood Institute (situated across the street from the School of Art) so that the two buildings would become one ‘cultural enterprise centre’. The College and Trust brought the project to the attention of those administering regeneration funding through SRB1 (Single Regeneration Budget). Despite an initial feasibility study which secured the necessary funds, negotiations over the sale of the building were unable to go further and the project collapsed.
In 1997 a further funding opportunity brought together a public, private and voluntary sector partnership which incorporated Stoke-on-Trent College, Burslem Trust, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Staffordshire University and Royal Doulton, and engaged the Burslem School of Art Trust to manage the project and the renovated building. The scheme was successful in securing funds from SRB, Europe through ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), Advantage West Midlands and Heritage Lottery Fund (through the Townscape Heritage Initiative). Stoke-on-Trent City Council contributed by purchasing the building and managing the capital program.
Design Impact workshop
The Glass-House Community Led Design led a Design Impact Workshop with Great Yarmouth Community Trust in April 2010. During and following a walk around the centre, the group highlighted many of the aspects that the refurbishment has facilitated - what works well or not so well for them - and reflected on the opportunity for future change:

What is working well?

The new circulation tower at the back of the building has opened up the building to all with its lift and stairs to all floors, it has made the building DDA compliant and enabled the current multiple use of the old art school building.

Access at front has greatly improved in a very neat design – the front steps were reduced from 3 to 1, with one side of the step transformed into a ramp.  The pavement was raised outside the building to bring it up to the first step.

The first entrance space at the front feels light and welcoming, and you are drawn into the atrium beyond.

The feel of the building is good – the openness and light of the original design has not been compromised. The central atrium, with its glass ceiling, gives views to all floors and helps with the legibility of building.

Internal spaces have been opened up or partitioned off to suit tenants.  A flexible approach to dividing and transforming large spaces is working well for BSAT. Their only condition is that new internal partitions can be removed at a later date without compromising the building fabric.

The combination of creative industry tenants, providing complementary uses and activities was seen by BSAT as a real benefit. There are many opportunities to meet people and work together on projects. Tenants and event attendees tend to bump into one another informally.

The sustainability of the organisation had been assured through the design  – the variety of space sizes and types allow for flexible lets. The rental now produces a good income stream.

What is not working so well?

In the refurbishment design, some of the spaces fronting the street were designated as retail and catering spaces, however, there was no “fit out” of units (here and in other areas). The expectation was that the new tenants would fit out for themselves. As a result, a suitable tenant was never attracted to the designated coffee shop and retail unit. It is only now that BSAT are putting a café in place using other funds, although this has been located at the rear of the building.
The asset transfer and refurbishment was managed by the owner (not BSAT), and changes in personnel led to snagging and correction of defects not being done until some years later.  BSAT managed to get the builder to take some responsibility for the work, but this took a lot of negotiation and staff time. Working more closely with the partner (monitoring them maybe), or managing the process themselves, would have made this better.
The heating and ventilation are problematic – south facing rooms get too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Large windows, high ceilings and an erratic thermostat on the boiler make for difficulty controlling temperature – and it’s expensive to run.

There is some need for appropriate signage. On entering from the front, the atrium draws you in. However, it is not apparent to newcomers where you should go once in the atrium. Whilst the building layout is fairly clear, individual area identity could be improved and clear signage is needed to reception.

Despite the elegant front of the building, it’s not clear from the street what the building’s function is, and sometimes taxi drivers don't know where it is.

There are problems with some areas of the roof leaking and of there not being adequate access, meaning that some leaks have not been fixed.

There is not enough space in the car park for the number of tenants.

Top Tips from Burslem

• Keep the character of original building in the refurbishment – make the most of what you have. The new parts should be 'honest' – and different, and modern.
• Have a strong vision of who the building is for – tenants, users, and staff. Show sensitivity to the social uses of the building.
• Empathy between tenants helps.
• Be realistic about your resources, but take risks and be flexible.
• Work with the community; local people will respond well to seeing good use of a building.
• Make sure your income streams are suitably diverse – don’t put all your eggs in one basket. E.g.  An anchor tenant with a contract worth 80% of your entire income is not wise, as if they have to leave there is a large hole to fill.
• Share your story, link with others. Get your web presence looking good.
• Find a development officer or manager with plenty of contacts – they will always have someone in mind to take on a space – they also market by word of mouth frequently so your company takes advantage of their social capital.

Glass-House learning points:

• Retaining the feel of the original building, and reinstating original features, has made for a really beautiful and vibrant working building. However, careful assessment of future energy and other resource use is essential at design stage. Plan for ways to keep running costs low. 
• The Burslem School of Art has been a catalyst for the street and for other cultural regeneration projects in the area. The street has turned to 'enterprise' – it is bringing life back in a different way.
• The feel of the entrance/reception of your building, and clarity of where to go from there, can have a big impact on the user.
• The spaces that have been well let tend to be grouped around the atrium with less of a presence on the street.  In future plans it would be worth considering future tenants that can give something more to a streetscape that has become sadly under-used in recent years.