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Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court

The Workspace

In our Cotton Court studios we offer private and shared workspace to over 12 creatives. The space we offer is fully serviced, flexible, furnished and affordable. Our prices are all inclusive including rent, rates, utilities and broadband.

Shared Workspace

We currently have no available space in our Cotton Court Studios

– £125 per dedicated desk per calendar month all inclusive utilities, rates, broadand etc (No VAT)

– 7am – 10.30pm access

– Industrial style building full of creative organisations in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter

– Free use of meeting rooms over in our South Belfast facilities

– Safe, well-lit Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel and close to Ulster University, the MAC and lots of shops, coffee shops and bars within walking distance.

– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract

– 1 months rent required as a deposit

Join the waiting list below

Join the Waiting List
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court

Our Cotton Court Studios are situated in an industrial style building full of creative organisations in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter

Private Workspace

– We have a number of private workspaces within our Cotton Court studios, suitable for approximately 1 – 3 people. Prices start from £275 per month for an office.

– 7am – 10.30pm access

– Industrial style building full of creative organisations in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter

– Free use of meeting rooms over in our South Belfast facilities

– Safe, well-lit Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel and close to Ulster University, the MAC and lots of shops, coffee shops and bars within walking distance.

– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract

– 1 months rent required as a deposit

Join the waiting list below

Join the Waiting List
Private Studio Space Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court

Elena, Graphic Designer

“It has been a great experience moving into Blick. The space itself is fresh, vibrant, and in a really good area. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a work space within a creative community.”

Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
Eligibility

The vision of Blick Shared Studios is to focus on the needs of creatives. To be eligible for taking workspace within Blick, you need to be working within the creative industries.

Falling within the UK’s definition of the creative industries – ‘those industries that are based on individual creativity, skill and talent with the potential to create wealth and jobs through developing intellectual property’ – includes thirteen sectors: advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, interactive leisure software (ie. video games), music, the performing arts, publishing, software, and television and radio.

You will be asked to complete a short application form to ensure your eligibility before taking a space at Blick.

Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court
The Location

The studios are situated in the heart of Belfast’s creative Cathedral Quarter opposite the Merchant Hotel and close to Ulster University, The Mac and the Black Box and many other arts and cultural organisations. It is a well-lit, safe and vibrant area in the city centre with lots of different coffee shops and food and drink offerings.

 

Our Location
Cotton Court is located opposite The Merchant Hotel
Why Choose Blick's Cotton Court Studios

Blick is a local, independent social enterprise offering affordable shared workspace, events, services and support for creatives in Belfast.

We have over 15 years experience providing workspace for creatives. We know what we are doing and can be relied upon to provide a professional service as well as being friendly and approachable.

Our spaces have been designed by creatives for creatives and offer quiet, intimate working spaces in buildings with character and charm to allow for productivity and creativity as well as community and collaboration. We aim to keep our services as affordable as possible so don’t offer free coffee/tea/ additional perks just try to offer really good service in nice spaces with nice people.

Our Cotton Court studios are based in Belfast’s creative and cultural Cathedral Quarter and has eight desk spaces as well as four private studio spaces. Cotton Court is part of a Managed Workspace building, which operates in the Cathedral Quarter with a focus on Not-For-Profit organisations from the Arts, Cultural & Community Sector. Other businesses who reside in Cotton Court include Belfast Print Workshop and Young at Art.

Cotton Court is a converted Cotton Mill. Throughout the 18 and early 19th Century, Belfast was a landmark city for the textile industries of Linen and Cotton. By 1804 there were 27,000 people in Northern Ireland being employed in cotton mills, one of which was Cotton Court. You can read more about the history of our Cotton Court studios below.

Read More
Shared Workspace Blick Shared Studios Cotton Court

Cotton Court Workspace FAQs

Leases are for a minimum of 3 months followed by a rolling month by month contract.

Rent, Rates, Heating, Electricity, High Speed Broadband, Office Furniture, use of Kitchen, Building maintenance, Cleaning of common areas, access from 7.00am – 10.30pm

We require 1 months rent to be paid by bank transfer as deposit to secure the space. This deposit will then be returned by bank transfer when you move out and have returned your keys and left your workspace clean and tidy without alterations. The first months rent will be due to be paid by bank transfer at the start of your rental term and invoiced thereafter on a monthly basis.

Unfortunately we don’t have a meeting room within our Cotton Court studios, but the facilities within our Malone studios can be accessed free of charge by Cotton Court Blick residents, but is subject to booking and availability.

We do not offer any free parking at our Cotton Court Studios but there is paid on street parking in the surrounding streets and a number of car parks a short walk away, affordable daily parking is available on Corporation Street, Lancaster Street and Little Donegal Street and you can also park within St Anne’s Square Belfast.

Our Cotton Court studios are open for residents to access between 7.00am and 10.30pm daily.

We don’t provide any extra services, we prefer to keep things simple and keep costs down for our resident businesses and put any profits we make back into supporting the local creative economy through free creative business support events and workshops.

Our buildings are fully serviced and furnished, and our prices are inclusive of rent, rates, utilities, broadband and use of communal meeting spaces, making renting an office simple.

Shared Workspace Prices Cotton Court

  • £125 per individual desk-space
  • Discounts for renting multiple desks available

Private Office space costs Cotton Court

Our private offices start from £275 for a small office for 1-2 people but vary depending on size and location. Email christine@blickstudios.org for costs of specific office spaces.

Please get in touch with us, we try to be flexible where we can to meet individual business needs so either give us a call 028 90207832 or drop us an email to christine@blickstudios.org with what you are looking for and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Located in Belfast City Centre, our Cotton Court Studio is based at 30-42 Waring Street, opposite the Merchant Hotel. There is plenty of parking nearby, street parking (free after 6pm and all day Sunday) is located on all surrounding streets, or St. Anne’s Square multi-story car park is a 5 minute walk away and Hi Park Car Park on High Street is 2 minutes walk, whilst more cost effective daily parking rates can be found in the car parks on Corporation Street, Frederick Street or Little Donegal Street behind Belfast Central Library.

Stay in the

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Hello sunshine 🌞 lovely sunny few hours earlier today in our Hill St studios
Our next Blick Animation Club event in partnership with Can Do Academy is on Saturday 18th May!

These mini animation master classes by Can Do Academy are a great introduction for children to the colourful world of Lego animation!

The workshop will allow participants to make a complete animated Lego film on an iPad, using sound effects, visual effects, titles and lots of imagination!

Your child will learn to use special iPad apps and they will receive a copy of their film at the end of the session! They can bring their own Lego characters or use the ones supplied by us.

More info at candoacademy.co.uk

Please note that these workshops are suitable for children aged 7+

Event Date(s): May 18, 2024

Event Time: 2pm – 4pm

Location: Blick Studios, 51 Malone Road Belfast BT9 6RY

Cost: £15 + Booking Fee

For more info and to book visit the events page on our website (link in profile) 🌼 🌸 🌻
WOMENFOLK JUNIOR.SENIOR

Introducing our new reformatted @womenfolk.co Junior.Senior. events. A series of leisurely bi-monthly Saturday morning brunch events for creative women in Belfast. Where over coffee, fruit and pastries within an intimate setting two local creative women will share the stories of their creative journeys. Each event will feature an established self-employed creative woman complimented by a young emerging creative starting out on their creative journey. Each speaker will tell the story of their creative journey so far and share honestly the challenges and opportunities they face. Giving different perspectives on the different stages of the creative journey.

These events are all about sharing knowledge and skills within the creative community so we can help each other grow. There will also be opportunities for meeting like-minded people, building community and creating new connections and helping champion young emerging designers by giving them the opportunity to share their story to a supportive and encouraging local audience.

Kick starting Saturday 15th June at 11.30am in our Hill Street Studios!

Event Date(s): June 15, 2024

Event Time: 11.30am

Location: Blick Shared Studios, Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LB

Cost: Donation
Can't wait for this sold out event next week with Paul Boal founder of Clever Ghost sharing his creative story!
Another chance to see our latest roundup of funding, support, opportunities, events, exhibitions and festivals for creatives

FUNDING, SUPPORT & OPPORTUNITIES

- £575,000 Augment the City Challenge Fund
- CIRCE Fellowship Programme 2024
- Beyond Literature Borders – International Work Grant
- Call 2 of the Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF) is now open for expressions of interest
- InvestNI new £5 million programme has launched to support entrepreneurs and high growth start-ups in Northern Ireland.
- InnovateUK Smart Grants: Up to £1M
- Catalyst Stryve Programme
- Invent Awards
- Creative Lunch Club
- The National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme – Travel Awards – rolling programme
- Digital Arts Studios XR Research & Development Lab
- Craft NI Garden Show Ireland Craft Village Call Out
- Women in Business and Techstart Female Founders Grant
- The Content Fund
- National Trust Time and Space Newton Competition
- The SideQuest X Creature Indie VR Fund
- Horizon Europe Pump Priming Programme
- British Council International Collaboration Grants
- Poetry with pride
- Wheelworks Arts I Will Volunteering Programme
- Venice gap-financing market call for projects

EXHIBITIONS

Ringside, an exhibition of drawings and paintings by Sean McGibbon, celebrating Belfast’s boxing culture.
Venue: Ormeau Baths Belfast
Date: 18 Apr at 6pm

Lavery on Location
Venue: Ulster Museum
Dates: 23rd Feb -  9th Jun

EVENTS

Go Succeed business events

AI and the Future of Live Experience
Date and time: 10 Apr, 3pm - 5pm
Location: online 

How to produce a kick ass application
Date and time: 10 Apr, 11 am - 12:30 pm
Location: Online

XR Network+ online seminar: Sound Design in Virtual Production
Date and time: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:00 - 15:15 BST
Location: Online
Pop Up Gallery Belfast

Dates and times: Sat 20th and Sun 28th Apr, 11am to 3pm
Location: Black Box Belfast

East Block Bazaar
Date and time: Sun 28th April 1pm to 5pm
Location: Banana Block

FESTIVALS

Foyle Film Festival 2024 – Reel Lives
10 to 27 Apr

Hit the north
20th - 30th April

The 24th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
2 to 12 May

You can read the full listings including links on our blog
A quick recap of the month of March at Blick!

- After a couple of years break, we gave ourselves a deadline and finally got our act together and re-launched our Womenfolk project (www.womenfolk.co) for creative women on International Women’s Day

- Including doing a call out for creative women business owners to feature on our Womenfolk platform (www.womenfolk.co)

- And inviting new members to join our ongoing Womenfolk Peer Mentoring group which meets on the last Tuesday of every month

- We welcomed new residents Horrible Brands to join our Cotton Court studios

- We completed an application for an exciting international project and connected with an international partner for another exciting project we hope to apply for this month

- We published the third exercise on creative and business values on our new resources for creatives section on our website https://blickstudios.org/resources/11802/

Looking back at what you have achieved in the past month is a great exercise in itself, to remind you that things are moving forwards and you are making progress even if it doesn’t always feel like it!
It's almost the weekend and a long one and it's stopped raining! Happy Easter 🐣 🐰
Did you know that we also offer virtual office services for creatives?

Our virtual office services is an affordable business address service for creatives giving you access to a commercial business address, for a professional image and keeping your home address private.

Whether you are just starting out and can’t yet afford workspace or are happy to work from home but seeking a professional public image for your business.

With our virtual office service you can use our City Centre Cathedral Quarter address 46 Hill Street, BT1 2LB for your creative business for only £22.50 per month (paid quarterly) or £200 per year.

We have a small team ensuring you get a friendly, personal and professional service and as a local social enterprise it means your money goes back into the local economy and to support the creative industries in Northern Ireland.

Have a look at our website for more info and to read our FAQs (link in profile) or email christine@blickstudios.org for more info
Our beautiful chandelier in our Malone studios as it changes through the seasons
Sunny Friday vibes in between the showers in our Malone studios this afternoon!
This month's new exercise on our website for anyone starting a new creative business is all about working out your personal and business values to help you define and develop your creative idea.

I first did a similar exercise to this when setting up Blick on a NESTA creative enterprise course way back in 2007 and it has been invaluable in helping me to make decisions and plans since and is really worth spending time on when starting out.

You can download the exercise as a PDF or word document on the creative resources section of our website (link in bio)

#blickcreativeresources #blickstudios #creativebusinessresources
#businessvalues
#personalvalues
Our next Blick Academy Creative Talk on Wed 17th April is by local designer and creative company founder Paul Boal!

Paul Boal is the Founder of Clever Ghost @‌thatcleverghost a brand and design studio based in Holywood, Northern Ireland. Founded in 2018 with a mission to influence positive change through clever design.

Paul and his team have created and managed brands across a diverse range of clients around the world from start-ups and SMEs to multinational companies.

His experience spans 14 years in the creative industry. To date, he has worked with clients including Cowen, the Irish Football Association, Queen’s University, Qualcom and evian in developing their brands and engaging with their audiences over numerous projects. Before founding Clever Ghost in 2018, Paul cut his teeth in various in-house design jobs. Eventually, he freelanced his way into several small design studios, overseeing the design team at a leading packaging company and working as a part-time lecturer in Creative Media.

Paul is one of our past creative residents at Blick and has done such an amazing job growing his business over the past few years, we are really excited to hear his story on how he started and has grown his creative business and his plans for the future.

You can find out more about Paul on his website: https://cleverghost.studio/ and instagram: @‌thatcleverghost

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Wednesday 17th April

Time: 7 - 8pm

Location: Blick Hill Street

Cost: Free

For more info and to book your ticket, visit the events page of our website (link in bio)
After a bit of a break following the pandemic, we are delighted this International Women's Day to bring back our @womenfolk.co project for creative women. New events and opportunities coming soon!

https://www.womenfolk.co/
Tired of working from home? We have just this one lovely desk available in our Hill St studios for £165 per calendar month all inclusive 

Send us a DM or email christine@blickstudios.org for more information or to arrange a viewing or visit the Hill St workspace page on our website (link in profile)