Millbank Tower Podium: Professional Practice Studios

We’re delighted to have secured space for another year, whilst the Millbank Tower development continues. We have a brand-new location on the 27th floor of Millbank Tower. So, we can continue to offer professional practice space for independent student-led learning, just a stone’s throw away from the Chelsea College of Arts campus — and with a spectacular view this year. 

Millbank Tower Podium and Studio 18 2023 – 2024: Year in Review 

Our first year in  Millbank Tower was a new and exciting one for developing student-led professional practice. We converted office space on the second and third floors of the Millbank Tower Podium and welcomed students in June 2023.  

We hosted a dynamic programme of workshops, events, and exhibitions that allowed CCW students to enhance their professional practice through cross-disciplinary collaboration. Notable highlights were the Bounce Fund exhibition series and a postgraduate Summer Residency. Both fostered vibrant creative communities in our space. You can read more about these, and our other past events, in the ‘What’s On’ section of our blog. 

Students from courses in Chelsea College of Arts made good use of our space for large student-led workshops and independent working. We provided dedicated space for MA Fine Art students to work on their final projects, many who made exceptional progress achieving higher grades than predicted in their final assessment. PhD students had their own studios to focus on their research and practice for the whole year. 

October 2024: Our professional practice studios move to the Tower

We’re delighted to have secured space for another year, whilst the Millbank Tower development continues. We have a brand-new location on the 27th floor of Millbank Tower. So, we can continue to offer professional practice space for independent student-lead learning just a stone’sthrow away from the Chelsea College of Arts campus. And with a spectacular view this year.

To adapt to our new space and apply all we learnt from last year, we’ve reshaped our offer. We will have a key focus on exhibitions and events because this was by far the most popular activity last year. Student feedback was they that loved the collaboration and honing their professional practice skills on a specific activity that they could then add to their portfolio and CV.

We will be opening an even larger gallery space, Studio 27 – watch this space for more details, along with information on how to book.

We have less professional practice working space but more than enough (based on last year’s use) to continue  working with courses who have space pressures on campus. In liaison with course leaders, we can host student-led group activities as well as individual requests from those courses, and other interested students.  We still have a policy of third years and above.  

We have less space but larger rooms. This year there will be no individual studio spaces. All the rooms are large enough to fit more than one student, as well as the larger open plan spaces for many students.  

How to reserve a space in the studios

  1. Check our Studio Principles to make sure the space can meet your practice needs – the space is fully accessible with quiet and breakout spaces
  2. Answer a few questions on what you plan to do while using the studios so we can make sure that we have what you need and are ready for you.  Download the questionnaire by clicking ‘Reserve Your Spot’.             
  3. Email your completed questions, and any you may have for us, to ccwmillbanktower@arts.ac.uk.

Please note: security is strict in the Tower, so we can’t accept any drop-ins – please get in touch with us via ccwmillbanktower@arts.ac.uk to arrange your first visit.   

What you can do

We encourage all forms of creative work in our studios provided it adheres to our health and safety procedures.

While you are welcome to focus on independent work, our space is a platform for you to collaborate with students and be part of our creative community.

We operate on an independent, self-led learning basis – there is no formal teaching. As the onsite team we are there primarily to manage the space and make sure you can work safely in line with H&S guidance.

But as practising artists and designers ourselves, we also love supporting you to bring your creative ambitions to life. We will help curate a vibrant programme of events and exhibitions and supporting  you with event organisation. We will also help you make connections with your fellow students and professional practitioners. We are focussed on building a collaborative creative community in the space.

If this sound like something that could support your course work and career transition, then please do get in touch – we’d love to have you join us.

As we’ve found that regular use of the spaces enhances the experience for all residents, we encourage students who apply to commit to using the studio regularly.

See you soon

We look forward to meeting you.

Please feel free to email us at ccwmillbanktower@arts.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0) 7701 373101, should you have any questions.