Futurecity developed a cultural strategy for Riverlight that celebrates its position at the heart of Nine Elms on the South Bank and marks a significant continuation of the on-going legacy of commitment to culture by St James Group.
StudioRCA is a new permanent project space that has been introduced to the Riverlight residential site in Nine Elms to promote the cultural strategy for this prestigious development, central to Nine Elms on the South Bank, and furthermore for the wider Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea (VNEB) area. Futurecity has brokered and developed a new cultural partnership between St. James and the Royal College of Art, which for its first time have opened a gallery outside of their buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth.
The Royal College will locate at StudioRCA as part of the ongoing research activities activities of the Fine Art sculpture programme. Staff, students and alumni will be joined by invited artists thinkers and makers to host exhibitions, screenings performances seminars and artist residencies, starting with Jim Woodhall’s interactive exhibition ‘Adaptation of a Memory of my Fathers studio circa 1981’ which after a series of workshops from the 11th to the 14th October 2014, will be . Through its location within the Riverlight scheme, StudioRCA will support the long-term animation of Thames Riverside through an annual exhibition programme, igniting Nine Elms on the South Bank as a new cultural district and contributing to London’s wider cultural offer by drawing in the local community, visitors, residents and workers to the area. The exhibition will then be on view to the publi, visible from the exterior of the building, until the 25th October.
Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art said: This partnership offers our young artists a fantastic public platform to develop new work – and new ways of working. It also helps cement our place in the Wandsworth creative firmament – one can almost draw a straight line from RCA Battersea through the Pump House Gallery to Riverlight.
Mark Davy, Founder of Futurecity said: Futurecity are delighted to have created this significant cultural partnership, bringing together the very best that London has to offer in arts and culture in the form of the Royal College of Art with St James, one of Britain’s leading design-conscious and sustainable housebuilders, which has resulted in this new and innovative creative space for London.
Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council and co-chair of the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, said: “This fantastic new arts space will help animate Nine Elms on the South Bank and draw the wider Wandsworth community into this new part of the borough. It’s exactly the type of exciting cultural venue we want to create here. The RCA has become a major presence in Battersea in recent years and their move south of the river has brought new jobs and opportunities to local people. I’m delighted they are now taking a stake in Nine Elms.”
The RCA has an established worldwide reputation for innovation through art and design and an active presence within Wandsworth Borough itself, with the School of Fine Art based in the Battersea campus, shortly to be joined by the School of Material. The RCAStudio will support Wandsworth’s cultural offer, building on the borough’s programme of arts and culture. The RCA’s outreach and education programme ReachOutRCA has a track record in promoting creative practice to young people in London’s state schools in exciting and unusual ways. This initiative will feed into the RCAStudio programme, strengthening long-lasting collaborations between St James Group and Wandsworth based local schools and community groups.
The Riverlight development comprises 806 residential units across six pavilions designed by the iconic architects Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners over five acres of land. On the 2 July 2013, it became the first river-fronting residential scheme to top out in Nine Elms. The scheme encompasses a range of accommodation options from suites to three bedroom apartment and penthouses.