SET Broad Street Place is a partnership to create genuinely affordable artist studios in the heart of the City.
Located at 6 Broad Street Place, the meanwhile use site brings together cultural, non-profit and private partners to transform an unused building in an iconic part of London into a centre for creative work, placing artists and community at its heart. The building, provided by Travelodge, was originally empty, unused and fully stripped back.
For Paul Smith’s Foundation, it is the next chapter of its Fashion Residency at Studio Smithfield, a business development programme for fashion designers which began in 2024 in partnership with the Mayor of London and Projekt, with support from British GQ and enabled by the City of London Cooperation.
TRANSFORMATION
Reimagining the space through collaboration
The building has undergone an extensive refurbishment to bring it into use. In just four months, from December 2025 to March 2026, the site transformed from an empty and decommissioned cavern to a high spec studio development, including new partitions, fire systems, electrics, heating, flooring and digital infrastructure.
The arrangement is secured for a minimum of 12 months, with designers responsible only for operational costs, paying rent of £1 per sqft per calendar month (£12 per sqft per annum). This peppercorn rent is made possible through the generosity of all the partners.
The project responds directly to the pressures artists face in a city that continues to price them out. Designers can sustain their practices in the face of rising rents and the threat of displacement. SET Broad Street Place stands as a practical example of what collaboration can achieve: a vacant building put to public use, affordable workspace secured for artists, and a new cultural asset embedded in the City.
In March 2026, the Paul Smith’s Foundation fashion designers moved in.
PRESENT
A new space for affordable creative work
The site is delivered and managed by London-based arts charity, SET, with dedicated SET studios and project space also in the building. Drawing on nearly a decade of experience delivering high-quality cultural programming and studios, SET brings a proven model rooted in genuine affordability, inclusivity and continuity, responding directly to the pressures artists face in a city that continues to price them out. SET Broad Street Place joins SET’s established network of artist and community-led centres across London.
With investment from The Culture Mile Business Improvement District (BID), SET Broad Street Place will activate a programme of public events for the local community, delivered by and in partnership with the resident designers, artists and makers. The Culture Mile Business Improvement District (BID) is the fifth BID in the City of London and plays a key role in the City Corporation’s plans for Destination City, which is aiming to transform the area into a retail, leisure and dining hub.
A new model for cultural placemaking, the project demonstrates how ‘meanwhile space’ can be used to meet real need, providing stability through affordable studios while introducing new cultural activity into the City of London through a public programme.