though, this was exactly the right place to be;
a crushed avocado’s throw from the financial
powerhouses of the city and the new tech
and creative hub in Shoreditch.
‘Innovation happens at the intersection of
fields, where people and organisations come
together,’ argues Silva. ‘It’s where, historically,
different communities have come together,
and now it is where the fashion industry
meets tech, and art meets finance and
advertising. There aren’t that many places in
the world with that kind of cross-pollination.’
The pair called in Spanish architects
Selgas Cano to create a space that would
foster both creativity and collaboration.
The result is two floors (now three) of curvy
transparent studios of seemingly infinite
shape and variety. Plants are everywhere,
fed by an internal watering system. It is a
space that offers dramatic light and openness
but also privacy. It is also determinedly raw
and a little rough round the edges.
Aldenton says, ‘Selgas Cano embrace
imperfections. It’s a juxtaposition to a
technological age where everything is a sealed
unit. They are celebrating the touch of the
human.’ That optimistic, almost improvised
architecture, and the idea it enshrined,
clearly appealed. Second Home was fully
occupied as soon as it opened.
But the plan was about more than just
providing a lo-fi, fluid space. Aldenton
and Silva would also engineer a mutually
supportive network designed to hothouse
young businesses. ‘Twenty per cent of the
companies here are chosen because they do
things that growing companies need, be it
branding or legal services,’ says Silva. ‘The
other 80 per cent we are selecting for as much
diversity as possible. That means there are
going to be people in the community that
can help you, so there is a real incentive to
talk to those around you.’
‘What really excites people is that sense
of energy,’ says Aldenton. ‘The people here
are passionate about what they do, and
being around other passionate people drives
you to do more. In a sense, that’s what
entrepreneurship is – it’s action.’
The mix of Second Home members is
carefully balanced. The biggest slice, more
than 15 per cent, are actually not-for-profit
charities and social impact organisations,
given free or subsidised space. ‘This building
has design agencies, charities, fashion
companies, corporates and tech investment
funds,’ says Silva. ‘If you want to have a
community, and a community where people
can learn from each other, it has to be diverse.
Ernst & Young’s innovation lab is next door
to Help Refugees. They love that. And Ernst
& Young help them with pro-bono work.
It works on both fronts.’
Second Home also runs cultural and
apprenticeship programmes, as well as
offering space to charities and community
groups for meetings. As a side project, it has
built a school in Nairobi, also designed by
Selgas Cano. ‘If you are paying money to be
somewhere, you want to know it isn’t going
to total scumbags,’ argues Silva.
It’s a method that seems to be working.
The pair insists that businesses at Second
Home grow ten per cent faster than the
national average and that 75 of the operations
there collaborate in some way with other
residents. Says Silva, ‘The data point that we
are obsessed with is not filling space – what
we are interested in is turning creativity
and innovation into jobs.’ Two years ago,
a pair of management consultants joined
Second Home where they set up Bulb,a green energy company. Now they employ
100 people. They found investors through
Second Home, and are working with a
communications company and a lobbying
organisation that they found here.
The mission now is to take the Second
Home model to other places and adapt it to
fit new surroundings, to prove that thrusting
entrepreneurialism happens outside of East
London’s new tech-meets-creative-meets-
finance hub. And to nurture and support it.
Last January, the pair opened a second
Second Home in Lisbon and late last year,
they opened a 12,000 sq ft outpost in »ABOVE, SOME OF THE
35 TREES THAT WERE
PLANTED INSIDE SECOND
HOME HOLLAND PARK
LEFT, SAM ALDENTON
AND ROHAN SILVA IN
THE CAFÉ/RESTAURANT
AT SECOND HOME
SPITALFIELDS. ACROSS
THE ROAD IS THEIR
BOOKSHOP LIBRERIA,
ALSO DESIGNED BY
SELGAS CANO∑
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