Cleveland College of Art & Design (CCAD) has developed an incubation space for creative practitioners who wish to set up and run creative businesses in Hartlepool. Opened in June 2011 -The Creative Lodge is a great addition to the facilities on offer at CCAD.

About The Creative Lodge:
The Creative Lodge offers affordable and flexible high quality office/open studio accommodation to creative practitioners in Church Square, Hartlepool.

The facilities include:
  • A dedicated desk or hot desk (dependent upon the level of membership)
  • Rates, water, heating, lighting and electricity
  • Building maintenance, including cleaning and refuge disposal
  • Office furniture
  • Wi fi Broadband internet connection
  • Communal kitchen area
  • Access to CCAD specialist facilities such as print rooms, kilns and photography studios

The new unit can accommodate up to 20 graduates from all disciplines including: ceramics, photography, fashion, and jewellery making. The Creative Lodge offers low cost affordable rent and access to specialist college equipment, which would otherwise prove too costly to many new businesses.

CCAD Principal, Martin Raby stated, "About 40 per cent of our graduates come from Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar, three of the towns mentioned as the ten least resilient to impending economic change. We wanted to do all that we can to help our graduates to earn a living from skills that they gain in their time with us and help increase economic activity locally."

Commeting just before the launch CCAD Business Development Manager, Melanie Shee stated: "Our hope is that this project will help our graduates become established more quickly as self employed, creative artists in the local area. At CCAD we want to help those graduates who want to live and work locally and it is important that we do everything we can, no matter how small, to play our part in boosting the local economy."

Creative Lodge Image

The first Creative Lodge tenant, Illustrator and Graphic Designer Amanda Bradley is absolutely delighted to be based from the new business start up premises.

Amanda Bradley, 22, pictured right, said: "I was trying to work from home and run my new business from there but it was difficult, so when I heard about the Creative Lodge, and that it was available for ex-students, I jumped at the chance."

Amanda studied a Higher National Diploma in graphic design at CCAD in 2006 before gaining a first class degree in the same subject at university.

Amanda has successfully carried out work for the NHS and is currently working with a local poet providing illustrations for his work.

Amanda, who lives in the north of the town, said: "Being able to have my own premises is fantastic and the cost is so reasonable."

"I am able to use the digital printing equipment and screen printing when I need to and the really good thing is, if I need advice on something, I can still ask the tutors. It is a brilliant arrangement."

"The other good thing is my work could take me throughout the North East or the UK, but it’’s great to know I have a really good base to come back to and work from."

Further information
For details of the eligibility criteria and an application form please download the documents here

    icon image  View the Creative Lodge Handbook  

If you are interested and are eligible to apply, please contact Melanie Shee on 07912 516149 or melanie.shee@ccad.ac.uk

To provide specialist Further and Higher education programmes in art and design and related areas as a centre for creative excellence.