The very busy Bussey Building: inside Peckham’s creative mecca

Down a narrow passageway in the heart of Peckham, south-east London, stands a hulking warehouse that was once part of the neighbourhood’s industrial landscape. The pockmarked brick exterior, with its patchwork of colourful window panes, gives away little of what is a multipurpose arts space known as the Bussey Building. But inside, sculptors and seamstresses mingle with architects and acupuncturists to form a symbiotic creative hub. 

Among its lively community are pop artist Boyarde Messenger and the Grammy-nominated creative director and designer Matt de Jong, residents of the Bussey for around a decade. “I don’t think you’d stay anywhere this long if you didn’t enjoy it,” says de Jong. “It’s good fun, rent is affordable and I find it so aspirational seeing companies around me flourish, it makes you want to be part of it.”

I am not letting go of this place – it has looked after me and helped me grow

The Bussey Building has been used for creative endeavours since the late 1990s, when herds of artists migrated to the south London suburb in search of cheap or abandoned spaces. The 19th-century structure, originally a sporting goods factory that manufactured munitions during the wars, is one of a cluster of historic buildings that make up the six-acre, family-owned Copeland Park estate known as Peckham’s Cultural Quarter. In 2009, the entire site was saved from demolition by a community-based campaign and repurposed to accommodate more than 120 independent enterprises, including galleries, art and fitness studios, faith groups, a rooftop cinema, restaurants and bars.

De Jong, 41, worked for Atlantic Records and Beggars Group before co-founding Undercard Studio with Jamie-James Medina, and has designed album art and related promotional material for musicians including Blur, Ed Sheeran and Michael Kiwanuka. He moved into the building in around 2014. Messenger, 43, found a studio space on the same corridor not long after. The two quickly became acquainted: “My longest relationship is Boyarde at this point,” smiles de Jong.

They have remained steadfast occupants and neighbours throughout refurbishments and studio moves. “At the beginning it was quite makeshift and noisy. The studios were slightly open at the top and the bottom, like stables, and I’m sure I drove everyone mad playing the Frozen soundtrack on repeat one Christmas,” laughs Messenger. “But I’ve always loved the vibe here.” 

Save for the odd train that rattles on the nearby railway, the rooms are quiet and bright. The stark white walls suit de Jong’s minimalist furnishings: two black leather chairs, an uncluttered desk and a wall of shelving filled with records. Jumping up from his seat, he pulls a Dizzee Rascal record from the shelf. “I like the variety that comes from the music industry,” he says. “One day you’re comping a photograph of a Ferrari driving against a sea of sheep for Dizzee’s Don’t Take It Personal album, and another you’re creating artwork based around concrete poetry (where the letters create shapes and patterns) for Australian rock band DMA’s How Many Dreams cover.” 

A few doors down, Messenger’s vivid artworks sit among green pineapple-shaped candles, paper lanterns and stacks of paint containers. The artist is dressed in a silky blazer studded with brooches, with coiffed blonde hair. And while she never wears designer items herself, Messenger has carved a niche by adorning such pieces with her playful pop art.  

Messenger joined the wearable art movement 13 years ago when her schoolfriend, the designer Charlotte Olympia, asked her to handpaint 100 pairs of shoes for Art Basel. The artist spotted a business opportunity and transitioned from painting on female bodies to designer handbags. “It was exhilarating,” she grins. “I was getting requests from around the world. People were putting their Louis Vuittons in Jiffy bags and declaring the value as £5 to get them through customs.”

While bags remain in demand, particularly the Hermès Birkin, the business is now evolving from wearable to lifestyle art. “You name it, we paint it – whether it’s a denim jacket, bowling balls or a Lamborghini,” says Messenger, who recently collaborated with Nike and Chelsea Women’s Football to design and paint a pair of Jordans for manager Emma Hayes’ final match, as well as a 6ft-tall baby elephant sculpture for The Elephant Family Charity this year. At the end of this month Messenger will launch The Boyarde Doodle Bar, a three-week Christmas pop-up at Selfridges where customers can have items personalised. 

The artist has also been creating her own Most Wanted collection – which she paints onto luxury paper bags – and Peekaboo series, after a debilitating neuromuscular disease prompted a shift in her priorities. “Sometimes I can’t hold a paintbrush or I have double vision, but working towards my first solo show is giving me the fire back as an artist,” she says. Her small team of artists helps with business commissions in the studio.

Despite Peckham’s gentrification, patrons don’t tend to pop by the Peckham studio. “I’m often told I should have a studio in central London to match my clientele, but I am not letting go of this place – it has looked after me and helped me grow.”   

Upstairs is a large airy photo studio, Sunset Studios, the same space in which singer Arlo Parks was shot for the cover of her 2021 album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. “Her pose was inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat but the tones are kind of Peckham,” says de Jong, who, more recently, used the studio for a shoot with the band Honeyglaze, helped by a young mentor as part of his work for the Arts Emergency charity that links creatives with under-resourced youths.

Out in the courtyard comes a clatter. “That’s the skate school,” explains de Jong, “and next door is a midcentury furniture maker. You don’t get more different than that.” After poking his head into a pottery studio, The Kiln Rooms, he points towards a little hut known as Oi Spaghetti + Tiramisù. “Francesco is a talented pasta maker who started off with just a table, gas canister and grill outside,” says de Jong, who’s a frequent customer. “I’m not allowed to eat too much pasta, otherwise I would,” says Messenger. Opposite is Copeland Gallery where Orlando Weeks, the former frontman of indie band The Maccabees, performed in June. De Jong, who has done every album cover with him since they met at university 20 years ago, helped him with the branding for the show.

The large communal courtyard at the centre of Copeland Park is particularly enticing in the summer. “Peckham in the summer is probably the best place in the world,” says de Jong. “It feels really alive and the courtyard becomes packed with people drinking and playing music.” Messenger agrees: “It’s buzzing. Everyone has their doors open so it’s very sociable.” But no matter the season, there’s always a companion to be found for kicking around a football or grumbling about the internet connection over lunch. 

Such camaraderie and cross-pollination is part of the Bussey Building’s allure. “There can be chaos and disorganisation but there is a raw energy that is part of the soul of this place,” says Messenger. “It’s like it’s got a heartbeat and I think that’s why everybody’s drawn to it.”