Laboratory 24

Our new space, leased from July 2010.

Location

London Hackspace: Laboratory 24
Unit 24
Cremer Business Centre
37 Cremer Street
London E2 8HD

Access

Cremer business centre is open 24/7. Access is through the main vehicle gates on Cremer Street. These gates are sometimes shut with the chain draped over them, and sometimes completely locked at night. If they're locked, you just have to ask the security guard who will be in his office next to the gates. Stairwells may also be locked at night but the guard will unlock them. If he's not in his office, you can phone Ace Security (number on the board outside) who will contact him.

Paying members have access via an RFID card or tag. If you've just started subscribing, come along when someone else is around and get your card added. Any 13.56MHz (high frequency) card will work, including:

In case of a power cut/emergency, there are three keys.

There are two stairwells in the building: north and south, both have freight and passenger lifts. You can use either. We're on the second floor. The stairwell furthest from the gates is a little closer to car parking spaces and the hackspace, but access to the stairwell in the loading bay is both under cover and adjacent to a goods lift.

It is fully wheelchair accessible.

If this is your first visit to Hackspace the easiest directions are as follows: Once you've entered the gates turn right into the loading bay, go through the door on the right and go up two flights of stairs, then follow the signs for unit number 24.

Getting There

By Bus

49, 242, 243, 394, 67 (alight on Kingsland Road [Hoxton Station (HG)/Spitalfields (HF)], 0.1 miles)
26, 48, 55, N26, N55 (alight on Hackney Road [Hoxton Station (KN)/Hoxton Station (KA)], 0.1 miles)

Map of surrounding bus stops and routes (pdf)

By Underground

Old Street (Zone 1, 0.7 miles, Northern Line)
Liverpool Street (Zone 1; 1.1 miles; Central, Circle, Hammersmith and City, and Metropolitan Lines)
Aldgate East (Zone 1; 1.2 miles; District, and Hammersmith and City Lines)

By Rail

Hoxton (Zone 1/2, 0.1 miles, East London Line (London Overground))
Old Street (0.7 miles, Northern City Line)
Cambridge Heath (0.8 miles; Lea Valley, West Anglia Main Lines)

By Car

The space is outside of the congestion charge zone.

We have two spaces for cars (36 and 37). You must park in the correct spaces, and display one of our four permits in your windscreen (copies not acceptable). Parking permits live on the noticeboard next to the front door; if you use a permit, please replace it with a post-it with your name and car registration, and remember to return it when you leave.

(Note that although there's a sign in the car park saying Unit 24, the parking permits themselves are for bays numbered 36 and 37)

There is local on-street parking in the immediate area but a controlled parking zone (Zone F - Business) (map) operates Monday-Friday 7:30-18:30 and Saturday 7:30-13:30. However, it should be possible to use these bays outside of this time. Please check before you park.

There are loading bays near the lifts which can be used for up to 30 minutes.

By Bicycle

There are a few places to store bikes:

Cycle rack in the car park (use a good lock, not recommended at night as we have had theft attempts)
On the main balcony in front of the space (you need a sizeable lock to lock around the railings)
On the secure fire escape balcony behind the space. Carry your bike through the space to avoid getting the carpet dirty.

Please don't keep your bike in the space (unless you're working on it).

Borisbikes

There are two Barclays Cycle Hire stations nearby:

Opposite Hackney Community College, Falkirk Street.
Shoreditch High Street, near the church.

By Motorcycle

There is limited parking for motorcycles. Do not park in one of the bays as you risk getting clamped. Park in the space behind the skip in the center of the car park only.

Motorcycles can park for free in Hackney's permit bays.

Information

Plan of the space

Plan of the space (view online)

Facilities

Hot and cold water is available, but not strictly drinkable. Filtered drinking water is available via the smaller tap on the big sink.
Three-phase power is available in the dirty shop.

See also Infrastructure

The Lift

There's a goods lift next to the loading bay. To operate it, you need to (manually) close the inner and outer doors. If you hear an alarm bell when you press the "lift call" button, it means someone's left the doors open on another floor. Please close both doors after using the lift.

Zones

The room on the far left is designated as a dirty shop, for heavy industrial equipment and anything that generates a significant amount of mess. Please ensure any equipment in here that makes any noticeable amount of noise is on rubber feet.

Emergencies

We have a landline phone near the electricity meters that is on an active line.
There is a first aid kit and fire blanket on the wall to your left as you enter the space.
In the event of a fire, please activate the fire alarm - there is an alert button to the right as you exit through the front door of the space.
There are two stairwells available from the front balcony, one in either direction - do not use any of the lifts in an emergency. The rear door leads on to a balcony with a fire escape at the very end.

Locking Up

When leaving, please remember to:

Check that any food is in the bin and all of the washing up is done.
All computers and other appliances (especially soldering irons and heaters) except Babbage (the server) are switched off.
Lock the rear door.
Close all the windows (rear windows, and those in the toilets).

Nearby stores

C W Tyzack - Hardware Merchants & Ironmongers. 8am-5.30pm Weekdays, 8am-1pm Saturday, closed Sunday.
Travis Perkins - Builders Merchants.
Leyland SDM - DIY store, Great Eastern Street.
Columbia Road Flower Market - quite nice on a sunday
Neighbours in Cremer Business Centre

Eating & drinking

Song Que Cafe - Vietnamese restaurant (takeaway until 11pm)
City Beverage Company - good Coffee, Beer, Wine.
Troy, the nearest cafe on Kingsland Road, sells excellent hot and cold Italian ciabattas, good breakfasts, great Turkish coffee. They also occasionally try to make you eat potatoes.
Saf, further south on Old Street/Curtain Road, vegan, does lots of raw food. Great if you like that sort of thing