Rebel Business School
A refurbishment of a four storey end-of-terrace building with a fascinating civic history to host the Rebel Business School, a social enterprise piloting free and alternative business education to young entrepreneurs.
DK-CM’s proposal reconfigures the building to host a variety of community learning, seminar, workspace and broadcasting uses, all of which are programmed and hosted by the Rebel Business School as tenants of the City of Westminster, who have owned the building since the 1960s. The project mixes commercial, civic and domestic languages to make a homely, civic-minded institution which is at home in its Harrow Road high street context.
Context
DK-CM were appointed in by Westminster City Council in 2019 to develop proposals for the refurbishment of 470 Harrow Road, which has been in council ownership for many years.
The building sits adjacent to the Elgin estate which during the 1970s played a pivotal role in the history of squatter’s rights in the UK. During its history of council ownership, 470 Harrow Road housed offices, a drug rehabilitation centre, and at one stage planned to have one of the first council-run LGBTQ+ nightclubs in its basement.
Credits
- Client: Westminster City Council
- Dates: 2019-23
- Collaborators: In the Shade of a Tree, Built Engineers, Robert Lombardelli Partnership and Rooff Construction.
- Photography: Neil Perry
- Status: Completed
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