History of Maker Space
Maker Space was founded in 2011 by Alistair and Brian. Approximately 10 people turned up to the first Welcome Wednesday on 20th July 2011. The formation of the space from the initial concept to our first premises took several years.
Timeline of key events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Initial idea of creating a hack space combined with a co-working space to pay for it. |
| 6th July 2009 | Newcastle Hackspace Google Group created. |
| 12th July 2009 | Alistair and Brian started renting The Cottage which later became Maker Space 1. |
| 18th May 2010 | Rebranded as Maker Space. |
| 31st March 2011 | North East Makers Google Group created to help build a community in the region. |
| 4th July 2011 | Alistair and Brian attended a Dorkbot event where they found the first members. |
| 20th July 2011 | The inaugural meeting when approximately 10 people turned up. This was the start of regluar drop-in sessions on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. |
| 15th December 2011 | Maker Space Ltd was formed as a Limited by Guarantee company. |
| 2nd January 2013 | Our first Welcome Wednesday! |
Maker Space Version History
Below is a list of the premises Maker Space has used over the years. All of which, excuding the current one, have since been domolished.
| Version | From Date | Location | Floorspace (m2) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS1 | 2011-07-20 | The Cottage, Star and Shadow, 1 Coquet Street | 25 | Our first home! A small office at the back of a cinema. |
| MS2 | 2013-06-01 | 18 New Bridge St. West | 91 | Our first proper space in the centre of Newcastle with large shop windows to fill with fun stuff. |
| MS2.5 | 2017-04-21 | 4th Floor, Commercial Union House, Pilgrim Street | 45 | A small temporary space in CU house with a lot of our stuff in storage. |
| MS3 | 2017-07-24 | Basement, Commercial Union House, Pilgrim Street | 103 | An area of basement that had previously been used as a document archive. |
| MS3.1 | 2019-09-13 | Basement, Commercial Union House, Pilgrim Street | 166 | Expanded into another area of basement that had previously been used as an alcohol store, known as the zombie cage. |
| MS4 | 2021-09-04(storage only) Re-opened November 2022 | 65 High Street, Gateshead | 200 | Ground floor and basement space in a building that was originally a pub. |