The Daimler Powerhouse creative hub in Coventry — which is owned by The Wigley Group — has had its official opening with a weekend of events.
The public open weekend took place from 28-30 August and included live music, performance, exhibitions and interactive activities led by Imagineer Productions, and new resident and associate companies Talking Birds, Media Mania, Open Theatre, Highly Sprung, Rebel Manifesto, and Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre.
The Wigley Group contributed £350,000 towards the £2.4million refurbishment of the only part of the Daimler car factory to survive the devastating Second World War bombing, and agreed a highly-discounted 20-year lease with Imagineer, which has been based at the site in 2009.
The refurbishment was a joint project with Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Coventry City Council, and was managed by The Wigley Group's development team, with work carried out by the Group's construction team.
Important architectural elements of the historic Powerhouse building have been restored and enhanced, such as the circular window and metal flue, with the contemporary translucent boxes used to highlight the building and create a light beacon from a distance.
Other strong geometric forms of the building have been retained, such as the gable end and arched windows, and the saw tooth roof design.
Inside, there is a sound recording studio and editing suite, as well as a sprung dance floor and vertical dance wall.
The resident companies will develop their own outdoor arts and theatre from the Powerhouse and continue their work with young and emerging artists.
It will also play an integral part in supporting Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture 2021 as a production centre for major performance works.
Photo: Kathi Leahy, Associate Director at Imagineer, with Mike Vining, Land & Development Director of The Wigley Group, and Tony Milner, Project Manager for The Wigley Group.