Creativity & Meanwhile Use: New programme exploring how meanwhile use projects could be used to make space for Brighton & Hove’s creative industries

Meanwhile use can help unlock space. Creativity and cultural activities could flourish in retail units inbetween commercial lets, in vacant properties on secondary high streets, in phased new developments, or in any strange unloved corners of upper floors or undercrofts or industrial buildings. 

The Meanwhile Foundation, as part of the city’s ABCD Plan for Cultural Recovery supported by Brighton & Hove City Council, is launching a new programme asking if meanwhile use could be one answer to the challenges Brighton’s creatives face accessing space in the city.  

The programme will include a series of virtual events, a downloadable toolkit, an online forum and the awarding of 10 Meanwhile Foundation memberships to individuals or organisations with strong ideas for meanwhile projects. It will introduce the concept of meanwhile use, discuss its relevance for Brighton, and provide practical advice on how to make it happen. 

Space is at a premium in Brighton. Where town centres in other parts of the country have been decimated by the decline in bricks-and-mortar retail and the impact of Covid, central Brighton has bounced back strongly and its property industry is thriving. This success is largely built on its identity as a city of creativity, but as rents rise and space is squeezed where can those creatives work, make and perform? 

Meanwhile use can help unlock space. Creativity and cultural activities could flourish in retail units inbetween commercial lets, in vacant properties on secondary high streets, in phased new developments, or in any strange unloved corners of upper floors or undercrofts or industrial buildings. 

The three online events will be presented by meanwhile industry leaders Meanwhile Space joined by guest experts. They will be opportunities for creatives to learn about how to find space, speak to landlords, and understand the costs and expectations involved in occupying empty property. For property owners, agents, developers and town centre professionals, the events will be an invitation to consider the benefits of meanwhile use from a landlord’s perspective and to discuss how enabling access to space for Brighton & Hove’s creatives could provide long-term benefits for the city and its property industry. 

Introduction to Meanwhile Use – 27 January, 12.30-2pm 

Meanwhile Use for the Property Industry – 24 February, 12.30-2pm 

How to Start Your Own Meanwhile Project – 3 March, 12.30-2pm 

 

For more information about the events and to register, visit Eventbrite. The toolkit and details of the online forum and application process for the Meanwhile Foundation memberships will be posted on the Culture in Our City website. Please email [email protected] with any questions about the programme.