Trista Wiebe

Sage Studio opened in 2018, we started in one of our founders apartments in Kensinton then within 6 months we moved into our other founders back shed, turned studio in North London. We soon out grew that studio and started the hunt for a larger space in October 2020. With Covid and the large check list we wanted in a studio space it took nearly a year to find the right space.

In August 2021 we found our new space in Harringay. The space was abandoned for several years, so when we came to view the space we really had to use our imagination to see the potential in the building. But it had the square footage we wanted, the parking and it was close to an underground!

Once we signed on the dotted line we started planning our renovations. We stripping the inside down to the studs, removing all old electrical and plumping as well as the drop ceiling in the kitchen space and studio 2.

Studio one had a lot of changes as well. The walls were covered in 10cm thick plastic panels hiding the natural brick walls, with a drop ceiling and large double doors going into the car port. Once we removed the panels, ceiling and busted through the double doors we enlarged the space enough to be able to have 3m width backdrop with space on either side. For the walls we cleaned up the brick and white washed them, the ceiling we raised to its max height and brought in new electrical all over the space. In the space we took from the double doors leading to the car port we turned into our make-up and hair stylist area as well as our changing area. We finished the space with a custom made barn door to close off the studio from the communal space and grey concert flooring.

Studio two was one of the largest transformations in the space. It had a 6ft ceiling resting on top of the windows, highly reflective old vinyl flooring, the only kitchenette that didn’t work and water boiler in the storage room. We knew right away the ceiling had to come down, what we didn’t know was the beautiful iron beams we recovered when tarring down the ceiling and exposing the brick gable ends. This left us with a vaulted ceiling that we covered in vertical paneling. We installed new wood flooring and a new kitchenette along with a Juliet balcony which means the double doors could now be opened to the yard below to bring in natural light and a nice breeze on a warm summer day.

We outfitted the studio space with a new changeroom area, make-up and hairstylist area along with a 3m wide backdrop wall supports and all the plug points you could want!