Due to redevelopment in the area, the London theatre and music venue will shut its doors before moving to a new site.
The Yard in Hackney Wick will relocate to a new site in "the coming years."
The venue was established by a group of volunteers in a disused warehouse five years ago. Since then it has primarily operated as a theatre, promoting young playwrights and artists. It has also increasingly found use as a club space, with the likes of Astral Industries, Whities and Stamp The Wax all putting on events there this year.
The Yard announced today via Facebook that the venue will close at some point in the next few years because the area around it, Queen's Yard, is being redeveloped. The plan includes the construction of 116 new homes and a bigger building for The Yard Theatre.
The Yard commented on the closure:
"Over the coming years, the surrounding area—our home—is going to undergo some dramatic changes. As part of these plans our current building will cease to exist. But we hope this will provide us with the opportunity to build something new… to start a new phase for The Yard. To ensure grassroots culture remains in Hackney Wick. To take what we've learnt and grown over the last five years and create a new space... We're very much at the early stages of this process but we want and need you to be part of it. Thank you for all your support. We look forward to continuing on this journey with you."
You can read the planning application of the new site and talk to The Yard about future plans through their website. The venue's forthcoming schedule include artists like Medlar, Bell Towers, Lone, Deadbeat and Moritz Von Oswald.
This is not the first East London music venue to announce its closing recently. Hackney Wick's Shapes confirmed it was shutting down this week, while nearby Dance Tunnel is set to close its doors on Sunday, August 7th.