The usual sequence in a warehouse district is well known: artists arrive, then galleries, then apartments, then the workshops leave because the rent has tripled and the neighbours complain about the noise. Oldgate got as far as the apartments and then stopped.
What kept it
Partly an accident of ownership — three of the largest blocks are held by the same family trust, which let the ground floors on long leases to the trades already in them. Partly a planning designation that requires active employment use at street level.
The effect is that Oldgate has a daytime population that is not only residents. There is a foundry, two print shops, a bookbinder and a company that restores lift mechanisms. The market is a real market.
What it means to live there
- Street level is busy from seven in the morning
- Delivery vehicles are a genuine feature of the mornings
- Evening noise is low; almost nothing here is nocturnal
- Everything is repairable within four streets
What to check
Acoustic separation between floors varies enormously across the district, because the conversions happened one building at a time over fifteen years. The good schemes used a floating screed on resilient battens. Ask for the section drawing; if nobody can produce one, assume the worst.
A quarter with working trades in it ages differently from one without. It gets more interesting rather than more expensive.
Teodor Halvik
Partner — City
Founded the city desk. Has read more service charge accounts than anyone should.
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