Maker Space 1 (2011 - 2013)

Maker Space 1 (MS1) was our first space which was a small office at the back of Star and Shadow Cinema's (https://www.starandshadow.org.uk/) building at the time.

Address

1 Coquet Street,
Ouseburn,
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 2QE.

Floorspace

25 square metres

Rooms

• The Space

Description

The space was a small office approximately 5m x 5m, one of four, in a part of the building known as The Cottage. It was originally rented by Brian and Alistair and used as their office until it became Maker Space. The room had deskspace along three of the walls, and 2 sets of shelves for members' boxes and a small amount of tools, equipment, books and electronic components.

The space didn't have many tools or much equipment at the time. Most of the things we had were personal items that had been donated such as screwdriver sets, drill bits, a small bench power supply etc. Several members were getting into 3D printing at the time. The space had a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic and a number of members clubbed together to buy the parts to build a Prusa Mendel.

The small size of the space was a challenge at times, especially open studio events such as The Late Shows (https://thelateshows.org.uk/). By the time Maker Space had grown to have more than 20 members, it became clear that we needed to find a larger space. Financially, this was seen as a gamble at the time but it proved to be a risk worth taking.