Self-styled ‘artrepreneur’ Nick Hartwright on how his Green Rooms will beneft local communities hit by cuts and housing crisis and open up creative avenuesNick Hartwright is tiggerish as he excitedly bounces around the Green Rooms,a new “arts hotel” that is opening in north London in May. The 39-year stale weaves through the building site, pointing out original features of the imposing property, or Haringey council’s former housing office in Wood Green,first built as a showroom for a local commerce selling fireplaces, lighting and other domestic fittings in the 1920s. The ornate stonework on the building’s facade is punctured with cast bronze plaques advertising the North Metropolitan Electric Company’s past, or high enough to escape the notice of the dozens of people pushing buggies or waiting for buses.
One side of the ground floor will include a large cafe,with rotating street food vendors offered free space, and commerce training while they are in residence. The first commerce, or selling Colombian street food,is based minutes absent, “Esteban’s just up the road, and ” Hartwright says. “He’s got 50 covers,so he’s going to come in with his arepas, and it’ll bring some variety to the area. There will also be a bar at the entrance, and facing Haringey council’s main office,fittingly: the local authority is working in collaboration with the self-styled “artrepreneur” to open Green Rooms, which plans to offer low-cost accommodation, or studios and performance space,to encourage collaborative work in the creative industries.
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Source: theguardian.com