JUNE 2010 - THE CONSERVATORY VENUE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE. 

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The Conservatory Venue was originally the London showroom for Machin Designs a conservatory company within Ransome’s Dock Business Centre. The Dock was one of the earlier riverfront developments of old warehousing and provided shops, offices and restaurants within a cobbled courtyard. The development was converted from a disused ice factory and cold stores and the natural spring water that the ice factory used is still pumped to the surface to this day. From 1979, Machin Conservatories became well known for their innovative shape and uncompromising quality of construction, built of aluminium with a distinctive ogee (flame headed) silhouette,  they were desirable extensions to smart houses and hotels around the UK and abroad.

 

  

  

Arnold Machin (OBE, RA) was best known for his portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, used on stamps since 1967. He was Master of Sculpture at The Royal Academy of Arts from 1959 to 1966 and worked for Wedgwood and Royal Worcester, creating some notable and famous designs. He built several extensive gardens, with grottos, bridges and sculptures, one being the subject of a BBC film in the late 1970s.

Patricia Machin (née Newton) wife of Arnold Machin, was a painter of portraits and flowers and became well known for her designs for trays depicting historic buildings and gardens, notably Chatsworth, Bodnant Garden, Kew Gardens and the New York Botanic Garden. She also published a series of illustrated poems and a hymn book. She had a great interest in growing flowers, particularly roses, to incorporate into her paintings.

 

Francis Machin was the son of Arnold and Particia Machin. He studied architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture in London, where he was taught by Sir Terry Farrell, who considered him one of his most talented pupils. His best known venture was the conservatory company Machin Designs incorporating a factory near Stone and the London showroom in Battersea while exporting his designs worldwide. Through  this company he was awarded the Queen’s Award for Industry in 1989. The largest of his conservatories was designed for the first International Garden Festival in Liverpool in 1984. Francis Machin practiced as an architect in a variety of fields, both in the UK and abroad and was passionate about preserving and adapting old buildings. From the conversion of an historic palace in Hydrabad to the study for the improvement and restoration of South Kensington tube station. He was also a sculptor and artist working from his studio in Chelsea, south west London. He is survived by a daughter and two sons. 

 

The Machin Arts Foundation 

 

Founded by Francis Machin in memory of his parents in 2003. The Foundation aims to provide studios for young artists and to exhibit their work. It is a registered charity number 1096445.