Transformation of world-famous car factory into £2.4m creative hub completes
The transformation of the only remaining part of the Daimler car factory in Coventry into a £2.4m creative hub in time for UK City of Culture 2021 has been completed.
Development and construction company The Wigley Group, which has its headquarters in Stockton, Warwickshire, owns Sandy Lane Business Park where the building that houses the Daimler Powerhouse Creation Centre is located.
The improvement and refurbishment works have been carried out by its construction arm Wigley Building and Development.
The creative hub will be run by Imagineer Productions.
The Daimler Powerhouse Creation Centre has been funded through £1.9m from the Cultural Capital Investment Fund from Coventry City Council and the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Deal.
The Wigley Group has contributed an additional £350,000 as well as agreeing a highly-discounted 20-year lease with Imagineer for the Daimler Powerhouse building, as well as a neighbouring building, as part of the redevelopment.
Additional funding has been raised from The Foyle Foundation, Medwell-Hyde, The Garfield Weston Foundation and The May 29th 1961 Charitable Trust.
With building works complete, the interior of the creation centre will be completed over the coming months and £150,000 from Arts Council England will ensure state-of-the-art infrastructure is embedded within the building including a sound recording studio and edit suite, and a newly installed sprung dance floor and vertical dance wall.
The Powerhouse building is the only remaining part of the Lawson’s Daimler factory where the first Daimler car was built in 1897; the rest of the factory was destroyed during Second World War bombing.
James Davies, managing director of The Wigley Group, said: “Imagineer has been based at our Sandy Lane site for many years and we have been working with them on plans for a creative hub for a considerable amount of time, so it’s great to see it almost ready to open.
“It has been a joint project with a number of partners to create a cultural legacy on a site of great historical importance to the city and we look forward to seeing how it can develop the talents of existing and emerging artists and creatives well beyond this important year for Coventry as UK City of Culture.
“The Powerhouse is of course the first phase of the wider regeneration of the industrial estate and in the coming weeks we will be bringing forward detailed proposals for phase two to create a vibrant new neighbourhood for living and work, culture and leisure.”
Daimler Powerhouse will open to the public in August.nities to visit the building.
Photo: James Davies, managing director of The Wigley Group (front left) with Mike Vining, planning consultant for The Wigley Group, Chenine Bhathena, creative director of Coventry City of Culture Trust, Roger Medwell, chair of the board for Godiva Awakes Trust of which Imagineer Productions are part of, Zamaurd Hussain, board director at the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and Robert Wigley, chairman of The Wigley Group, with aerialists Luka Owen and Daniel Connor.
