Storing up talent: workshops and studios in self storage

Dressmaking studios, craft workshops, studios for choreographers, artists, sculptors, printmakers, filmmakers and photographers, workshops for product assembly and repairs, even sound-proofed studios for budding rock musicians… these are just a few of the inventive uses that self storage units are now being put to.

A fascinating article by Tom Lamont in The Observer last November brought to light the huge range of activities that might be taking place behind the serene façades of self storage facilities ‒ a martial arts gym in Reading, a dance practice studio in North London, a wheelchair repair workshop in Southampton, to cite but three that he describes.

The limits of self storage

Self storage facilities are always on the lookout for new uses for their spaces, especially in periods when their core business is slack, leaving them with large amounts of vacant capacity.

So, are they open to any suggestions? Well, yes and no.

Self storage facilities will always be primarily about self storage. Some will refuse any activity beyond self storage, pure and simple. This might be because of legal restrictions (imposed, for instance, by planning permission, or restrictive covenants), or this might simply be a question of business policy.

Those that are prepared to consider other activities are unlikely to countenance uses that might in any way conflict with their storage customers. So they probably will not look favourably on any businesses that require a flow of customers or visitors, make a mess, use industrial machinery, or a large quantity of power, or solvents, or involve more than a handful employees, and so on.

In official speak, they will tend to be looking at businesses that are compliant with B1 use: to quote the government planning portal, these are premises used for “offices […], research and development of products and processes, [or] light industry appropriate in a residential area”.

Beyond this, there are few formal restrictions, apart from the one very big no-no: you cannot sleep in a self storage unit.

Always worth asking

If truth be told, many self storage facilities have limited appeal as places of work or leisure activity. The units may not have windows, have no sources of power besides lighting, and no plumbing (beyond the toilet facilities designed primarily for staff and self storage customers).

And yet… a self storage unit may be just the sort of space you need to run your activity: simple, private, quiet and secure, and with long opening hours (even 24/7 in some cases), and ‒ above all (but not always) ‒ considerably cheaper than any other comparable space available for hire.

So will a self storage facility want you? Well, it’s certainly worth trying: the decision is often up to the manager, and he/she can always say no.

Several of the larger self storage companies – notably Access, Safestore, and Big Yellow ‒ are actually designing office/studio/workshop spaces into their new warehouse buildings, so even if they do not have these facilities at your nearest branch, they may well have something to offer at another site.

Most self storage managers will be happy to listen to your enquiry, and steer you towards a solution. As a helpful Big Yellow manager in South London put it, “You won’t walk away without an answer.”

3 Responses to “Storing up talent: workshops and studios in self storage”

1. andcorwhat says:

   May 11, 2010 at 12:05 pm

   There’s more about bands using self storage units as recording studios in an article by Damian Whitworth in the Sunday Times, 21 November 2009.

   http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article6918597.ece

   He quotes comparative prices: £150 a day for a recording studio outside London; £700 a month for 350 square feet of self storage space (huge!) in Acton, used as a recording studio.

   The band in question is called Somewhere Else.

2. Biscuit says:

   October 29, 2010 at 5:57 pm

   I’d have thought the storage places would have problems with their insurance if they allowed non-storage activities to take place on their premises.

3. Serviced office space says:

   March 4, 2011 at 2:51 pm

   If you happen to refer to yourself as a businessperson, then you will appreciate all too well that a huge amount of your days would involve meeting various other business people, and/or prospective clients etc. Should you need to seem professional, it is always best to use a conference room,rather than just meeting down the pub. It is possible to rent out meeting rooms or office space daily, half daily, or even hourly