Hamilton House - Coexist - Various Projects

Hamilton House at the heart of Stokes Croft in Bristol is home to Coexist, where art, music, enterprise and innovation cluster as a community rising to the challenges of today and tomorrow...

Coexist is a not-for-profit community interest company, which was set up to manage spaces in which people can coexist (verb - to exist in harmony) with themselves, with each other and the environment.

We began occupying Hamilton House in November 2008 and since then over 60 different tenants have taken space including artists, social entrepreneurs, craftspeople, community groups, environmentalists, community co-ordinators, fashionistas, photographers, sculptors, designers, web geeks, poverty reduction people, teachers, learners, writers, singers, dancers, doers, puppet, print and policy makers, painters, healers, pen pushers, promoters, and all sorts of food, arts and health activists. And that's just the people who are already involved. This has transformed a dreary old office building into a vibrant and creative community in the heart of Stokes Croft.

Activities

Hamilton House is made up of three blocks. The block opening onto Stokes Croft is the creative hands of the Coexist project. In this block you will find a range of spaces available to the community – info/expo space, movement and dance studios, community meeting spaces, music recording facilities, cinema room, audiovisual conferencing, holistic healing area and Stokes Croft’s newest music and arts venue.

In the middle block at the top of the building is the Coexist hot-desking space. This is a hive of enterprise, education, art and social change initiatives. The remaining floors of the middle block are home to studios and workshops. On the upper floors of the block at the back of the building you will find desk-based organisations including Bristol Wireless and Bristol Foundation Housing, 2QAB and The Adventurists. On the ground floor of this block opening onto City Road is the home of Jakes Bikes and The Bristol Bike Project.

When we set out the owners of the building, Connolly and Callaghan, generously supported the realisation of the Coexist project, since then we have been self-supporting and have relied on the passion and energy of the people involved.

www.coexistuk.org

Being a part of Coexist

Depending on your interests, there is potential for roles as dynamic or as specific as you would like. Our current teams to get involved in include:

Events, Hosting, Practical Skills, Project Development, Communication, Info/Expo, Sustainability Strategies, Research Projects

We also have a range of projects working within Coexist such as Bristol Wireless, Bristol Food Hub, Grofun, DMAC UK, Bristol Bike Project, Self Harmony.

Contact Sennen on 0117 9249599, email sennen@coexistuk.org

The events team; who gather each week to plan our seriously cool schedule of gigs, parties and events. Help us fill our spaces dedicated to music, arts and education with inspiration.

The hosting team; who are on hand to show people around Hamilton House, explain the project, enroll new tenants, manage the hot-desking floor and generally have a really lovely time with all the inspirational people that seem to gravitate towards this project.

The practical skills team: Painting, carpentry, plumbing and maintaining Hamilton House.

Coexist project development – We need help with funding applications, gardening, landscaping and beautifying our common areas.

Coexist communication – Manage our monthly newsletter, maintain our in-house social network and website and promotion of Coexist events.

The info/expo space – this space will be dedicated to exhibiting and selling tenant creativity and discussing a range of topics such as ecological construction, growing your own food and reducing your energy bills with Bristol’s masterminds. This space needs ideas, discussion, creativity and fitting out.

Sustainability strategy – We need to keep ensuring we are following the best practices within our means, inspiring behavioral change and fostering new ideas for sustainability.

Hamilton house research project – We invite academics to use Coexist as a potential degree or PHD related study; a feasibility study on the retrofit and regeneration of Hamilton House to zero carbon, the effect of buildings on human behavior, or exploration of the sustainability of the building and organization.