Ribbon Cut on New Chiswick House Artist Studios

Part of planned Community and Creative Campus in the gardens

Xanthe Arvanitakis (left) helps Justine Simons OBE (right) do the honours. Picture: Picture: James O Jenkins

May 23, 2025

Twenty new studios for artists and other creatives have been officially opened in the gardens of Chiswick House.

The ribbon was cut this Thursday (22 May) by Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries.

The new facilities are contained in outbuildings near the Kitchen Garden and form a part of the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust’s wider Community & Creative Campus.

The studios will be made available at, what are being described as affordable rents, from early summer. Space for up to 50 artists and makers will be provided through the charity Artist Studio Company.

The Creative Campus is part of a £6.4million redevelopment project which will see the transformation of previously underused areas of the estate into new indoor and outdoor spaces.

Future plans include the launch of a new Schools Programme and Learning Hub and, next year, the conversion of a disused 17th century walled garden into a Community Fruit Garden.

The Trust has already secured over £4.4million of the total project budget for the Community & Creative Campus, including £180,000 from the Mayor’s £1.2m Creative Enterprise Zone Sustainability Capital Grant. This funding has been used to support greater sustainability for the studios including the installation of an Air Source Heat Pump, which will also be used to heat other buildings across the campus.

Income from the studios will also help Chiswick House & Gardens Trust secure its own future.

The studios, and the wider Community and Creative Campus of which they form a part, have been made possible by support from a range of funders including the Mayor of London’s Creative Enterprise Zone, London Borough of Hounslow, The Linbury Trust, Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Kusuma Trust, Clore Duffield Foundation, Foyle Foundation, the Swire Charitable Trust, Bernard Sunley Foundation, the Architectural Heritage Fund and many individuals.

Justine Simons, said, “I am delighted to open these wonderful new studios at Chiswick House & Gardens. They will provide much-needed affordable creative workspace to local artists and help to foster a new creative community as these historic outbuildings come alive with excitement and inspiration. It’s an important milestone in the delivery of the Mayor’s Creative Enterprise Zones which are helping to build a better London for everyone.”

Councillors, staff and supporters assembled for the opening. Picture: James O Jenkins

Xanthe Arvanitakis, Director of Chiswick House & Gardens Trust, added, “We’re incredibly excited to have today launched our Creative Campus, supporting the next generation of artists in the uniquely beautiful grounds here at Chiswick House and Gardens. As artists begin moving into these new studios, we hope to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive creative community that fully reflects the diversity of the local area, with planned open studio days and community events ensuring that this historically significant space will remain welcoming to all for generations to come.

“Through it, we will also generate new income streams that will help secure the future of our much-loved gardens, allowing us to continue to keep them open for every one, every day.

“Finally, I would like to gratefully acknowledge that these Studios, and the wider Community and Creative campus they form part of, have only been made possible by generous support from our funders.”

Taz Virdee, Chief Executive of C-Change West London and Member of the Board of Trustees of Chiswick House & Gardens Trust, said ,“I am pleased and proud to witness the opening of these new Artist and Maker Studios. Both the Studios, and the wider Community and Creative Campus they form a part of, will open up fresh opportunities for creativity, skill-building, and social connection – and will allow the Trust, and its community partners, to continue to collaborate, share, and grow together in the years ahead.”

Councillor Salman Shaheen, Hounslow Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure & Public Spaces, said, “We’re delighted to support these new artist studios. They will play an important role in helping emerging artists and further developing our borough’s rich arts and culture.
“The creative arts play a central role in enriching lives, bringing people together and fostering community pride, but they also create jobs and bring visitors to the borough, boosting our local economy and showcasing the best of Hounslow.

“We encourage local artists in need of a workspace to check out these new studios, in their stunning surroundings.”