In honour of Earth Day, we reached out to one of our favourite sustainable venues here in London. House of Transformation is a unique dynamic private hire event and meeting space in East London that can host a wide range of events. We spoke with Anton Chernikov, the founder, to learn more about some of his projects.

House of Transformation and Sustainability

Q: What does sustainability mean to you?

A: For me the true meaning of sustainability is about more than just preserving nature and fighting against carbon emissions. Sustainability is about creating regenerative systems and business models that give back more than they take. Instead of trying to be less bad, why can’t we aspire to make a positive impact? Do we want to sustain or preserve our natural world or wouldn’t it be wiser and better to try to regenerate it?

Q: Where did the idea for House of Transformation come from?

A: The idea for House of Transformation came from a few simple observations.

• The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote and hybrid working.
• There is an oversupply of coworking spaces and traditional office spaces. 
• There is a lack of affordable private hire meeting and event spaces in London. 
• Organisations have been cancelling their leases and downsizing their permanent offices and looking for innovative ‘meeting spaces’ that encourage socialising, creative thinking and collaboration. 
• If a space is unique in character, people are willing to travel further. The office of the future is no longer tied to major transport hubs.
• There is also a growing demand for out of city nature locations, where teams can go to reconnect with themselves, each other and nature.

What if we could transform conventional office spaces into sustainable, dynamic and inspirational meeting and event spaces that can be booked per hour and per day on demand? What if we could also design these spaces to be suitable for work and play? Why do offices need to close on evening and weekends? What if there was a network of these spaces both inside and outside of the city?

House of Transformation is our first prototype. We took on a 5 year commercial lease at 222 Kingsland Road during the depths of the pandemic. It was definitely a risk at the time, but now it is paying off. We have had over 150 bookings in the last year. We have hosted networking events, dinners, weddings, baby showers, team building days, live music performances, album launches, film/photo shoots, interviews, tech hackathons, corporate boardroom meetings, multi-day youth leadership programmes, sound healing, ecstatic dances and more. There have even been 2 successful proposals. 

We operate a Robin Hood business model, where we charge higher prices to companies during working hours and then offer significant discounts to artists and charities for evening and weekend use. Affordability is really important to us and we love to see the space being used in so many different ways.

Q: How long did the project take to complete? 

A: Another core value of the space is of course sustainability. We renovated the space in less than 3 weeks. Check out the video below of the transformation. We also have a tour of the space.

Q: Has it been hard to source reused/recycled/ or locally found materials for the space? How did you go about finding items and materials to repurpose?

A: So many items have been gifted to us or up-cycled. We took speakers from a local cafe that was shutting down during the pandemic and rewired and painted them and they look great. Many friends who moved out of London gifted us cushions, chairs and kitchenware. We used waste scaffolding pipe for our hand rails and table legs. We sourced oak tables. We filled the space with plants. We created our own artwork. We also used sustainably sourced plywood that can be easily repaired and replaced to build the stage, the meeting room and the mezzanine levels. Everything in the space can be easily unbolted and reused when we move out. 

However, the biggest impact we can make goes far beyond the interior design of our House of Transformation space. This is just a first step of a much bigger vision to inspire and enable organisations to transform how they work and contribute towards building a more sustainable and regenerative future. We have been co-organising online and in person conferences and gatherings such as re:build and DEVX. We are planning a Nationwide Regeneration Festival next year on the Isle of Wight. We have also launched a new startup called CAMPFIRE and have been visiting farms and retreats centres outside of London who share our values and are open to hosting companies and communities. 

Q: What tips would you give to our readers on how they can start their sustainability journey? 

Now, on EARTH DAY our priority is to start connecting with more organisations who want to make the shift towards remote working without damaging their culture and productivity. We also want to connect with organisations who are ready to invest in the wellbeing of their people and the sustainability of their business operations. We have a growing network of regenerative experts, entrepreneurs and business coaches and facilitators that can support teams on that journey. We also have a growing network of nature locations across the UK and Europe where you can host your strategy days, team retreats, wellness programmes and networking events. Spending time in nature with your team and a good facilitator can be a great way to begin or accelerate your sustainability journey. 

We are looking to partner with organisations that want to transform how and where they work. If you are curious to learn more and explore a collaboration, please take a few moments to connect with us by answering a few questions here.