JTP Annual Studio Trip: A Wapping Day Out
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JTP Annual Studio Trip: A Wapping Day Out

Published on 24 October 2018

This year, JTP’s annual Studio Study Trip took us on the first stage of discovery of an area we’ll soon be very familiar with –our future studio at Pennington Street Warehouse, and its surrounding neighbourhood of London Dock, in Wapping, east London.

On Friday 5 October, our entire London Studio headed out for an afternoon of fun, learning and exploration. We were split into teams for a competitive Treasure Trail of Wapping and the London Docklands, taking in local history, facilities, eateries, watering holes and wharves (it turns out there are hundreds!) with a view to sharing learning, experiences and recommendations with one other. 

Each team was given a particular theme to focus on during their Treasure Trail, covering Wapping’s spaces, streets, cafes and pubs, street furniture, shops and signage.

As well as answering the questions, the teams were tasked with capturing the past, present and future of Wapping, through any and all mediums we saw fit – sketches, photographs, models, film etc. This material will then feed into the ‘shop window’ exhibition planned for our new studio, which will showcase 200 years of London Dock.

Further critical research was carried out in the local pubs, where each group cheerfully tested the food and drink offerings of a different pub along the Treasure Trail route. These are housed in some of the oldest buildings in the area – The Prospect of Whitby dates back to 1520. With such interesting histories behind them all, it will be tough to choose our new regular!

The groups were each given a tour of our future studio at Pennington Street Warehouse led by our Managing Partner, Marcus Adams. Marcus explained the exciting plans for the space and showed us how the historical features, like the dramatic brick vaults in the basement and inset brick arches in the walls, are being creatively adapted into new working areas as we embrace flexible and agile ways of working.

Our employees have been involved at every stage of the design of the collaborative design process, so the studio tour was a fantastic opportunity to see the transformation taking place, and left us all very excited to move in in December!

The groups reconvened in the evening for dinner at our new local Italian, Wright’s of London, followed by drinks on the top floor of Skylight London, where we enjoyed the sweeping views of London Dock and beyond, and shared stories from the day in true competitive JTP style.

The enthusiasm on the day was captured in the Report Back to the studio at our Monday lunchtime Soundbites, where each group shared their experiences, anecdotes, recommendations and fun facts learned. We all learnt something fascinating, particularly one of our partners, Joanna Allen, whose research revealed that her great-grandmother was married to a ship captain from Wapping!

There were also plenty of good ideas for when we move in – a suggestion for a JTP Running Club called ‘Collaborative Pacemaking’ went down particularly well.

As we draw closer to the move date, we will be sharing further news about our new studio in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!