#8 Acre Lane Studios (1976-1996)
50 stories from The Acme Archive
Formerly the Knightsbridge meat pie factory, the building at 52 Acre Lane, Brixton and its potential as artists’ studios were discovered by Richard Deacon, who at the time was Acme’s first Housing Assistant. In the summer of 1976, Acme made a successful proposal to the GLC for the conversion of the factory into studios for 28 artists with a grant from the Arts Council of £5000 – some of which was distributed as grants to artists for the renovation of their studios. Priority was given to artists who could not be accommodated by Space and overspill from the requests for space in the Hetley and Faroe Road Studios.
Artists who were based at Acre Lane alongside Richard Deacon included Bill Woodrow, Anthony Gormley, Charles Hewlings, Humphrey Ocean and David Cunningham (also founder and member of The Flying Lizards). It was David Cunningham who identified that the former fridge would be an ideal facility for musical artists. This initiative was advertised to artists and during the resulting conversion an ossified meat pie was found on the roof. The recording space would eventually become the home of Cold Storage Studios, which was run by the band This Heat from 1979 to 1987. Probably the most famous recording to come out of the space was the Flying Lizards’ own song, Money.
Acre Lane studios was handed back in 1996 and the site has since been developed for housing. Several of the artists based at Acre Lane were relocated to the new Acme Studios at Carlew House in Norwood.