community/cultural
John Stanley Beard, 1913
2, Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, NW5 3LQ
The Civic Action Lab is a new community event space, art gallery and artist studios at the former Palace Cinema in the heart of Kentish Town. The Cinema, originally design by Architect John Stanley Beard, has been underutilised since its closure in the 1950s. However together with charity Hypha Studio's, Camden Council is reimagining the space as a place for community innovation and collaboration.
Kentish Town
Kentish Town West
88
Ground Floor of the building only, over one level with some internal ramps at steep gradient.
10:00–15:00
Civic Action Lab and Community Art Exhibition will be open for viewing with staff onsite to discuss project with visitors.
11:00–15:00
Civic Action Lab and Community Art Exhibition will be open for viewing with staff onsite to discuss project with visitors.
The Civic Action Lab is a new temporary community space opening in the heart of Kentish Town for the local community to test and develop new ideas and initiatives that support local social change and environmental justice.
Working in partnership with charity Hypha Studios, Camden Council have reopened the ground floor of the building at 2 Prince of Wales Road (the former Camden Law Centre) to create a new community space, 14 artist studios and an art gallery.
The temporary space occupies the ground floor of the building and will be open until the end of 2025 before closing to allow a full retrofit of the building led by award winning architect's IF_DO.
On the day there will be lots of things to see and do!
- Community-led art exhibition of local amateur and professional artists
- See the new community space and speak with members of the team about the retrofit proposals
- Take part in drop in art workshops taking place across the day
There will be light refreshments available on the day.
The building was built originally as a cinema in 1913 and was designed by John Stanley Beard. It initially was operated by Palatial Cinemas Ltd, and its first screening was 'The House of Temperley' by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The cinema building was taken over by Gaumont British Cinemas in 1929 - renamed the cinema 'The Gaumont'. The cinema closed its doors in 1959, with the building adapted into a supermarket, until a becoming the Camden Community Law Centre and Housing Aid Centre in 1989.
The original building was designed with its main entrance and cinema foyer located at 197 Kentish Town Road, this section of the building was demolished and rebuilt in the 1960's and now occupied as residential properties. Much of the original building heritage was lost in the changes of ownership and use over the years, but our Architect's IF_DO, working on a major retrofit of the building, are working with local people to develop new artwork and architectural detailling that reflect the buildings heritage and the local area.
