“The best dance studio of its kind in London”
Sean Flanagan, General Manager, London City Ballet

LIFT Youth Hub is Islington Council’s healthy living hub for young people and one of two youth facilities managed by Isledon Arts CIC on behalf of the borough. It offers a full range of youth services including social activities, mental health support, careers advice and advocacy and occupies a large Victorian school building on White Lion Street in Islington, five minutes walk from Angel tube station. The existing building was built by the School Board for London as Penton Grove School and dates from 1874.

Having undertaken an initial feasibility study for a new standalone dance studio at LIFT Youth Hub whilst working at Ian Ritchie Architects in 2020, we were approached by Isledon Arts CIC in February 2022 to review their options following the project budget having been reduced to 1/4 of what it had been previously. Faced with the prospect of an off-the-shelf studio space with low ceilings and limited natural light, we suggested to the Client that we could provide a more tailored solution, better suited to dance, for the same budget.

Occupying an underused corner of the site, replacing a row of disused outbuildings and 7 parking spaces, the new dance studio provides the young people of Islington with a 130m2, 30-person, professional quality dance studio.

Lined in pale birch ply and with a floor to ceiling height of 4.5m (ideal for dance), the space is bathed in natural light thanks to five large rectangular rooflights, the proportions of which are a reference to the large sash windows at first floor level in the existing building. A specialist dance floor by Harlequin flooring ensures the studio caters to the requirements of professional dancers.

 Energy efficient and low-carbon solutions have been installed for the building services, thereby reducing carbon footprint and lowering operating costs. Acoustics were a key consideration for Planning so the walls and roof build-ups are designed to limit noise break-out and windows and rooflights are sealed, with fresh air being provided via an extremely efficient and quiet mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.

 The prefabricated timber panels are supported by a structural steel frame, providing larger, column-free spans than would have been possible with an entirely timber-framed structure. The entire structure (steel frame, prefabricated timber framed walls and roof structure) was manufactured off-site in Sandwich and craned into place over the course of 2wks. Construction work commenced in October 2023 and, following a successful funding application to the The Clothworkers’ Company, the dance studio opened its doors in May 2024.

To help subsidise the youth services it provides, LIFT Youth Hub also runs a fully commercial room hire and catering business when the facilities are not in use by young people. One of the first external hires of the new dance studio was by London City Ballet and they enjoyed working in the space so much that it has since become their primary rehearsal space for the part of the week when it is not needed by the young people LIFT supports.