With a planned opening possibly as soon as November this year, the new Goldsmiths Centre is really starting to take shape. Opulent Ethics were lucky enough to be part of a small group being shown around the site by Rebecca van Rooijen, Project Officer for the Goldsmiths Centre and co-founder of Benchpeg, the jewellery industry's weekly digital newsletter.
Made up partly from a Grade II Listed School with a newly built entrance and audio-visually equipped exhibition space the building is going to be the home of the newest jewellery community in London and will boast state of the art facilities and technologies all within an environmentally concious building.
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| Artists impression of new Goldsmiths Centre |
The Goldsmith Centre plans to recycle rainwater in the lavatories and have photo voltaic cells on the roof which will help power the sensory building. It has everything that Opulent Ethics would look for in an eco-concious building.
And who will fill the space? Well, there is definately something for everyone. The public can pop in to use the cafe facilities or view work in the impressive exhibition space. Companies will be able to hire the conference facilities. Up and coming and mature companies can hire workshop space on a rolling contract. And students will have supported access to workshop space and masters of different specialisms in the industry.
And the students won't even have to be in the same room as the experts they are learning from. The Goldsmith Company are looking to spend time recording and preserving the teachings of these experts in order to ensure traditional skill bases do not dye out.
The overall aim of the building is to bring a breath of fresh air to the industry by increasing and supporting learning, knowledge transfer and trade. As the history and traditions of jewellery are weakening with newer, quicker, more precise technologies drawing attention away the Goldsmith Centre is looking to halt this by offering pre-apprenticeship schemes and evening classes in specific skills.
All in all the Goldsmiths company charity, which the Goldsmiths Centre will run under, are aiming to start the biggest revival of the jewellery industry in living memory. Good luck to them!
And if even a fraction of the staff who work in the finished centre have the contagious enthusiasm of Rebecca van Rooijen then the centre can't fail to be one of the most inspirational platforms for jewellers of all levels to work in.
For more information please see the Goldsmiths Centre website.
That's all for now....
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