Acquisition Made Possible With Funding From Arts Council England

National law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised Yorkshire Artspace, a high profile local Sheffield Arts Charity on the acquisition of Exchange Place Studios, in Sheffield's historical Castlegate.

Yorkshire Artspace has acquired the whole of the Exchange Place building for an undisclosed sum.  Funding and support from Arts Council England has made this acquisition possible.

Exchange Place Studios provides affordable workspace to 85 artists and makers: including painters, printers, jewellers and woodworkers, all part of the creative resurgence of the historical Castlegate area of Sheffield.

The 6-storey building, facing Victoria Quays, was built in 1926 as a showroom and news depot for WH Smith, one of the first steel framed buildings in Sheffield with an attractive main façade clad in art deco tiles. The café on the top floor was the most fashionable place to be seen in Sheffield in the 1920s.

As part of the continued refurbishment of the building, Yorkshire Artspace will replace the windows, renew the roof and clean the faiençe tiles to remove decades of grime. Better public access to the exhibition spaces is being created along with out of hours access to the studios for wheelchair users.

Commenting on the space acquisition, Andrew Wallis Head of Irwin Mitchell's Sheffield Real Estate Practice said:

Kate Dore, Director Yorkshire Artspace, said: "We are delighted that our long term future in Castlegate is secure. Working with Irwin Mitchell was a great pleasure and I felt we all had the best interests of the future of the Quarter at heart."