Cultural
Industries Quarter, Sheffield
Sheffield’s CIQ
was one of the UK’s first serious developments
planned to implement strategies and policies designed
to support the growth of the cultural industries
sector. Adopting a very run down area close
to the city centre and clustering around existing
organisations such as the Leadmill venue and Yorkshire
Artspace, development started in the mid 80’s
with the opening of Red Tape Studios and the Audio
Visual Enterprise Centre, which attracted the Untitled
Gallery, Sheffield Independent Film, the Human League,
Comsat Angels and Fon Studios into new, bespoke accommodation. This
was followed by 70,000 sq.ft of managed workspace
for the cultural/media sector in the Workstation,
and an adjoining Independent Cinema and Media Centre,
the Showroom – still one of the biggest and
most successful creative industry building complexes
in the country. ci:p founder Matthew Conduit was at the forefront of the development of the cultural industries in Sheffield from the early 1980’s to 2000 (see Profile).
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