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Few London venues have created such buzz in recent years as Printworks in Canada Water.
The vast former printing press has only been open for a year, but it’s already become one of London’s most highly rated spots for electronic music. The first of the venue’s huge spaces to open officially was the laser-strewn, DJ-focused Press Halls, but soon you’ll be able to get your live kicks there too.
The venue has announced it is opening a 3,000-capacity live music and arts space within its cavernous confines that could well become a mainstay on the London music map. Above is a picture of the work currently underway. By comparison, 3,000 people is a chunk less than a gig at the Roundhouse (standing capacity 3,300) and a few more than the Royal Festival Hall (capacity 2,900).
The project is being led by Broadwick Live (who are behind festivals like Field Day, Festival No 6 and Snowbombing). Bradley Thompson, Broadwick’s managing director, told us that the as-yet unnamed new space will ‘lean on the heritage of the building’, boasting high ceilings and the venue’s old printing presses as a backdrop.
Live music will take place during the week, but won’t cross over with the venue’s weekend electronic programme – which features upcoming sets from Kerri Chandler, Job Jobse, Lindstrøm and more.
Fridays, however, will flit between hosting a live act and an electronic night. There’ll also be arts and culture events programmed by Tamsin Ace, a curator at the Southbank Centre.
An artist's impression of what the new space will look like.
Sound and lighting design will be handled by a production team who’ve worked on Manchester’s Warehouse Project and a little club called the Haçienda. ‘Production-wise, this puts us at the forefront in terms of UK music venues,’ says Thompson. All of which makes this new venue a pretty attractive prospect – for bands as well as punters. ‘I think bands will be keen to play in the venue – it’s a unique space,’ Thompson explains. ‘We want to position ourselves as another key venue for London that can hold 3,000 people. I feel that the city is lacking at that kind of level – if you go to certain venues, the diaries are quite full and bands don’t necessarily get the capacities they want.’
Acts playing this new space will be getting announced soon, though we can tell you that Django Django’s Printworks show on March 23 will be the first performance in the new space, which is scheduled for completion on March 3. See you in there!