T&Cs for Open Access Membership

Opening hours:

Tuesday 11am – 9pm

Thursday 10am – 8pm

Saturday 10:30am – 6pm

Members are welcome to use the studio within these hours without limitation.

The studio will be closed at these times:

  • Christmas break 2022: Last day the studio is open before Christmas is 20 December, and the re-opening is on 5 January 2023.
  • Easter Weekend.
  • One week in July/August

Subscription terms:

We are unable to offer a refund for the month paid/induction fee.

We reserve the right to cancel membership without explanation.

Membership cannot be shared between different people.

If you are restarting a subscription after a break, an induction fee is payable at every re-subscription.

Cancellations can be done via member’s account on ceramicsstudio.coop website no less than 60 days after joining the studio, and no less than 7 days before the renewal day. This is to allow us space and time to accommodate your projects. We are unable to offer a refund for the month paid/induction fee.

Payments:

Membership fees will be charged monthly via subscription made though ceramicsstudio.coop website, using a secure gateway, until it is cancelled.

The first payment will be taken from Open Access Member’s account on the day of their subscription.

Materials Fees

Materials fees will be charged at £4.87 p/kg of leather-hard pottery, and £6.38 for bone dry pieces, and will cover glazing and firing costs. Work ready for a firing will be weighed at leather-hard state, and will be paid for before the firing.

Kiln Firings

Kiln temperatures: the regular firing temperatures are 1000°C for first firing, and 1220°C for glaze firing. Other temperatures can be fired at the discretion of staff, and should be discussed in advance.

Projects that are more than 39 cm in either height or diameter must be paid for separately, and can be dealt with through our firing service. Please account for waiting time for drying and firing of your work.

We are unable to promise priority firings for any member, the work will be fired at a reasonable pace and as soon as it is ready for a kiln.

Please sign your pieces to make sure work does not get lost in the process.

Substance use: alcohol and illegal drugs are not welcome in the studio at any time during Open Access hours. Thank you for not bringing alcoholic drink with you.

Explicit content in work or research: please be aware that members in the studio come from different cultures, we would appreciate you being considerate to fellow studio members.

Personal belongings: Studio members are expected to take responsibility for their belongings at all times.

Ceramics Studio Co-op is not responsible for your belongings or damage to your ceramics, however all due care will be taken to make sure no losses occur.

No guests.

Clothes: No open toe shoes allowed in the workshop. Please have your top on at all times.

Being kind: Members are expected to behave appropriately, with respect to staff, studio users, and fellow open access members.

Induction: Members have to go through the workshop induction, learn health and safety principles and practices, and adhere to them. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of membership.

Machinery induction: Members have to participate in an induction/training to be able to use some specialist equipment in the workshop.

Working together: Please be aware the studio can get busy, especially around festive time. We ask our members to be considerate of each other’s needs and share space kindly.

Cleaning: All members are expected to help clean up the studio for at least 20 minutes when they have finished for the day. Tools should be washed and returned to where they came from, pottery wheels wiped clean and switched off. Wedging benches should be tidied up.

Any spillages should be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent accidents. No dry sweeping.

Members’ care for the space allows us to keep membership costs down and makes it a better experience for everyone. We appreciate everyone’s participation.

Recycling: All scraps of clay and slurry will be recycled, no clay should be allowed down the drain or into a waste bin. Help us be sustainable and good to nature.

Common storage shelves:

Bisque fired work will be placed on common shelves and retained for 2 months.

Uncollected glazed work will be discarded after that time.

Common area shelves can be used for storage of work in progress, we ask members to be considerate not use it for general storage. If the work left unlabelled with the name of the maker in common area for more than a week, it will be removed and recycled.

We reserve the right to change the rules at any time, but will notify all members if we do.