Written by: Gideon Burrows

When furniture designer Auro Foxcroft found cheap studio space for himself, he thought it was too good a deal not to share. Barney Jeffries finds out how Village Underground got off the ground 

Auro Foxcroft is a furniture designer. For years he'd been looking for studio space in London whose rental costs wouldn't bankrupt him. He was halfway up a Swiss mountain when inspiration hit him: he saw a funicular railway (the little trains that go up the sides of mountains) and found his answer.

Back in the UK, Auro contacted London Underground and was told that he could buy old rolling stock at £500 a carriage, each with an internal capacity of around 500 sq. ft. Normal office space goes for around £25 per sq. ft., so it was an unmissable opportunity.

Auro decided to take the idea a step further by setting up a managed workspace project that could benefit other creatives in London.

Auro came across a vacant arch in Shoreditch and clinched a deal with the local council to lease it, initially for ten years. He also secured the adjoining 4,000 sq. ft. of warehouse. Unfortunately, finding finance was a lot harder. Grant funding was scarce, and only one conventional bank would consider giving him a loan, at an interest rate of 22%.

Thankfully, there are lenders who are prepared to look beyond the short-term financial risks and see the long-term social opportunities.

Auro approached London Rebuilding Society, which provides loan finance and business support to social enterprises in the Greater London area. As well as lending money to social enterprises which cannot access funds from conventional sources such as banks, LRS provides financial advice on subjects such as costing, marketing, profit and loss, and how to write a business plan. 

In April 2006, with these financial skills under his belt, Auro borrowed £38,000 from LRS for site clearing and preparatory work, and to buy and equip the Underground carriages. He also converted the warehouse into a multi-functional art, music and cultural centre with hi-tech film and photographic facilities. All the train carriages are kitted out using sustainable materials, with carbon-neutral heat and power, and the interiors are eco designed.

The location, just round the corner from trendy Hoxton Square, is crucial. Shoreditch has one of the densest clusters of creatives in Europe, contributing to the remarkable cultural and social regeneration seen in the area in recent years. As any creative will tell you, it's vital to be located where the work is. Finding affordable workspace, however, can be nigh-on impossible — and this is where Village Underground comes in.

The warehouse space provides a venue for events from conferences and launches to parties and fashion shows. These commercial activities in turn fund new creative and cultural enterprises.

Not only has Auro now created three jobs in his own organisation, but 36 people are now working in the Underground carriages — people who would otherwise have been working from home or in an internet caf

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