A new creative workspace has opened in Park Royal as a home to a range of local businesses focusing on re-using and recycling local industrial waste materials.
Minerva Works is a ‘circular economy hub’ where waste products are upcycled into art and useful items. Over its lifetime, it is estimated that the hub – which is owned by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and opened in the spring of 2025 – will help create 35 jobs and reclaim at least 20 tonnes of waste materials.
It offers hands-on workshops and green skills training, to upcycle waste materials and in turn help people and organisations reduce their environmental impact. The waste includes clay extracted by HS2 and other local developments, deconstructed sets from local film studios, and even discarded tyres, high-vis workwear, straw, and leftover printing inks.
OPDC bought the building in Minerva Road in 2024, with long-term plans to convert it into an energy centre that will reclaim waste heat from nearby data centres to power homes and businesses in Old Oak. But with the site not needed for this purpose until 2026, OPDC found a creative temporary use for the building.
This is one of the latest workspaces to open in the Acton and Park Royal Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), which is supported by the Mayor of London and run in partnership by Ealing Council and OPDC. The zone is home to more than 345 businesses and 6,000 jobs in creative industries, of which over 90% are in cultural production.
A space with purpose
The hub is run by the people behind Republic of Park Royal, a local affordable space provider. The result is a thriving hub that brings life to an otherwise empty building, offering much-needed affordable space for local makers, artists, and innovators.
A creative space for artists and start-ups
The building has become home to a range of local businesses and projects, including:
- Re-collective – an activist network that recycles waste materials like timber from the film industry in the borough and repurposes them for community projects. Every piece is catalogued and tracked from the film set to its final use
- Rescued Clay – this group transforms reclaimed clay from local construction sites into community-made artworks destined for the very buildings being constructed. It’s a low-carbon approach that connects people to the land beneath their homes
- Absolute Beginners – a youth-led art project teaching young people to handcraft everyday items like sandals, tote bags, and vases using sustainable, power-free methods. Materials include reclaimed clay from the Old Oak Common HS2 site and discarded nitrous oxide canisters. The project culminated in a community banquet, commissioned by HS2, using a handmade 100-piece dinner set, symbolising the contrast between young people’s creativity and high-tech developments
The hub is also home to Anzen – a start-up business developing a plug-in wall-mounted ventilation unit that can both heat and cool spaces using highly efficient, repurposed, and sustainable technology.
Building a stronger sense of place
Ealing Council leader, Peter Mason said: “We are fortunate to have so much creative talent in our borough. The CEZ is helping local creative talent to thrive, making it more accessible to everyone and building an economy that is more sustainable, diverse, and inclusive.”
David Lunts, chief executive of OPDC said: “We know that Park Royal is home to a fantastic range of creators, makers and businesses. OPDC is proud to have supported the Republic of Park Royal and the fantastic businesses who are now using this hub to create a space that is working hard to reduce waste in London.”
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, the council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes added: “One of our key pledges is to help deliver new jobs and spaces for local businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. It has been a fantastic initiative to support the growth of businesses in the borough’s key sectors.”
Jonathan Brewin, director of Republic of Park Royal and the charity that holds the lease in Minerva Road, added: “We are always chasing the next best thing – a better job, a cooler neighbourhood. But our philosophy is to stop and invest in the place we’re already in. This community is worth it.
“We’re not bystanders – we’re actively shaping the future of this place. With so much development coming to North Acton, we want to create a strong identity that welcomes new residents into a vibrant, evolving neighbourhood.”
Get involved
Are you an artist or business interested in sustainability and the circular economy? Go to the Republic of Park Royal website for more information. It offers affordable space and opportunities to collaborate. Businesses can also explore how to creatively reuse their waste or host corporate workshops at the Minerva Road hub.
You can also volunteer with Re-collective or Rescued Clay to learn green skills and contribute to local projects.
Find out more about borough’s creative industries by joining the new creative sector forum. Email invest@ealing.gov.uk or visit the Good for Ealing website.
Sustainability in action
Visit the Foundry Collective’s shop in North Acton to see some of the circular economy hub creations. And don’t miss their open studio during the London Design Festival on 13 and 14 September 2025.
