Makerversity uit Londen opent binnenkort filiaal op Marineterrein

De verbouwing van gebouw 27E op het Marineterrein is voltooid en nadat al geruime tijd bekend was dat het gebouw toch niet gebruikt zou worden voor het Nederlandse EU-voorzitterschap, is men op zoek gegaan naar een nieuwe huurder. Dat is het Britse Makerversity geworden. Zij bieden een platform voor creatieven uit de nieuwe, meer kleinschalige 'maakindustrie', door onder andere huisvesting en gespecialiseerde apparatuur beschikbaar te stellen. Daarnaast vragen zij de makers hun kennis te delen met anderen.
Makerversity is sinds 2013 actief in Londen en komt nu dus ook naar Amsterdam.

Andy Hutt op de website van Makerversity over de komst naar Amsterdam:

As you may or may not know, since 2013, Makerversity has been building Europe’s most exciting community of maker businesses from its HQ at Somerset House in London. This year Makerversity looks to make its first permanent venture outside of the UK, in Amsterdam. Close to London and at the heart of the world’s creative industry, Amsterdam marks an exciting next step for the Makerversity community.
Our mission at Marineterrein is to support and grow a diverse selection of The Netherlands’ most exciting maker start-ups whilst up-skilling the next generation of Amsterdam’s creative and practical minds, to prepare young people for high-value jobs in cutting edge industries.

Across 2000sqm, Makerversity at Marineterrein will house two hundred of Europe’s leading creative makers exploring new technologies and new economies. Alongside co-working space there will be state-of-the-art prototyping and fabrication workshops, a ‘maker’ cafe, public events and dedicated learning facilities for our education programme – ‘Makerversity DIY’.

Our location in Amsterdam is exceptional. Marineterrein is an island only a stone’s throw from Centraal Station and it also boasts an amazing Naval heritage, akin to that of Somerset House. The space continues to draw parallels with our London home by bringing formerly unused space back into the public domain, after 400 years as a naval base. Makerversity will be leading Marineterrein’s transformation into a future-facing campus of creative industry.

“Amsterdam is a city well-known as a cultural and creative force with an entrepreneurial mindset,” said Tom Tobia, one of Markerversity’s founders. “It has huge potential to become Europe’s start-up capital but within the start-up community there’s a huge range of needs. For many, access to messy space is as important as shiny client-friendly space. Often ideas flourish as a result of peer collaborations and feedback sessions as much as with venture capital. Crucially, we look to strike a balance of both. This is why our new home at Marineterrein; an iconic location with ‘shiny’ shared working and social space and an adjoining warehouse ideal for workshops is so exciting for us. Amsterdam is the perfect place for Makerversity to build our next community of doers, those who like to get stuck in, have fun, share ideas and let their work do the talking.”

Makerversity is looking for all manner of members to join us in Amsterdam, from designers to hackers, engineers to wearable technologists, inventors to makers. We want to create a space to showcase an array of creative skillsets. As in London, at Marineterrein we will provide 20% of our memberships at subsidised rates, while 10% of our memberships will be free to charities and pioneering businesses run by under 25s.

Makerversity Amsterdam and London will also have reciprocal memberships, so anyone who joins us will have access to working, making and learning facilities at heart of two of Europe’s most exciting cities.

Foto's Makerversity