In early 2018 we decided we wanted to have our own studio, in addition to sharing the Borough studio, which we started running full-time in October 2018. We went out and about, spoke to tonnes of people and places around Southwark, then eventually got in contact with Peckham Levels after a recommendation from a friend. Peckham Levels itself was a project to convert an old car park in the centre of Peckham into a thriving creative community in the building under Frank's Cafe and behind PeckhamPlex. It launched in November 2017 and was looking for a creative company like ours to bring a mix of creative classes to the building, to complement the screen printing, pottery and photography creative spaces they already had. With entrepreneurial enthusiasm, we jumped at the opportunity of being part of a creative community (there is 50+ studio spaces for creative there), surrounded by bars, restaurants, yoga studios and co-working spaces.

After successfully submitting an application for the space, we got some funding through Virgin StartUp and got to it.

Lots of late nights and hard work went into fitting the space out with Studio Hyte and the M.Y.O Team - thank you everyone. We were also getting very busy in the Borough studio also. First thing was to PVA glue the breeze blocked walls prior to painting it before the electricity and lighting was installed. Next was the install of the fit out - extra door was added to the back of the room for additional access (the studio was split in 2), windows were added to add more natural light, bespoke shelving was handbuilt and added all around the room, tables were built from scratch, old school chairs were bought, refurbed and painted (upcycling at its finest!). A rolling divider was also added, so the larger and smaller room could be split for separate sessions. To keep with the idea of the car park, rooms were split with colourful spray painted car parking spaces (sticking to a theme of green, yellow and blue). Winchable trellises were added to the ceiling cavities, with the idea being we could put plants in there and winch it down for watering - to help with airing the studio. Walls were painted with a theme of red, yellow and blue, whilst also embracing the chip board of the space. We also did a wall of colour, where it looked like the wall was a bleeding, colourful rainbow - looked super cool! Shelves were added, collapsible tables were put along the side walls (in case more space needed) and after a few weeks, it all really came together!

We hosted thousands, had tonnes of fun, had film shoots, photo shoots, TV shows, theatre rehearsals, brand activations and creative team building sessions, hen parties, birthdays, loads of public creative sessions and more.

After a year, there was an option to extend our stay there, but we decided to no longer continue there. We had taken over the Borough studio full-time and felt the residency and working with Peckham Levels had run its course. But, it was a lot of fun and gave us really great experiencing in building and launching a creative space, we learned a bucket load.

Big thanks to everyone who got creative with us there and the Studio Hyte & M.Y.O Team for helping build it :)