Venue given £1.92m to open creative digital lab

A music venue has been given £1.92m to transform part of the site into a "creative digital lab".

The Baths in Ipswich, which was originally a swimming pool which could be covered over creating a venue for bands including Led Zeppelin, has been used by Brighten the Corners (BTC) as a music venue for several years.

BTC has now been given funding from Ipswich Borough Council to transform the unused first-floor space into video production, live recording and podcast facilities.

Joe Bailey, chief executive at BTC, said the site on Civic Drive would "benefit the town for decades to come".

BTC also plans to build a state-of-the-art extended reality (XR) studio that will offer groups the chance to enjoy immersive digital technologies.

Construction will begin in late spring next year with the aim of opening in spring 2027.

The funding from the council has come from the Towns Fund and will also be used for upgrades to the existing ground-floor music venue, BTC said.

"Our ambition is to help connect and inspire the next generation of creative talent, and we intend to work closely with communities and businesses to ensure this happens," Mr Bailey said.

Neil MacDonald, Labour leader of the council, said the refurbishment would "breathe new life" into the venue and the local authority was "proud" to support it.

"This project will not only provide fantastic entertainment opportunities but also equip local people with the digital skills needed for the future," he added.

While The Baths was originally a swimming pool, in the 1960s and 1970s boards were placed over the pool so it could host music acts.

Led Zeppelin performed there in 1971. The pool closed in the 1980s.

It was converted into a two-storey building, and the upper floor was most recently used as a gym. It reopened as a music venue in 2021.

BTC was given permission last year to open the venue full time.

The Baths has been part of the highly successful Brighten the Corners multi-venue festival which has been running since 2019, initially as Sound City Ipswich.

However, the festival will not take place in 2026 as the promoters take a break to concentrate on their other projects.

The BTC team also runs The Church and Smokehouse venues in the county town.

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