Artists find a home for their ambitions

She said: "We had an open day, and the children came in and were running around. I didn't expect them to be interested in art, but they were very appreciative and asked lots of questions. It was very harmonious."

Atelier Court is located on Leven Road, not far from the dreaded car pound just east of the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach.

It used to be a printworks employing 15 people, and the borough insisted that Swan Housing's new development provide some sort of replacement commercial space.

But while regeneration may bring more homes to the area in future, it isn't exactly the sort of place in which many shops would thrive.

So Swan formed a partnership with Acme Studios to place 21 custom-made ground floor artist studios within the development, available to "non-commercial fine artists" earning less than £15,000 a year. It took 10 months to build and was ready in March last year.

Acme spokesman Jack Fortescue said: "Now the residents have artists working downstairs. It's different from having a bookies, Tesco Metro or a row of boarded-up shops."

The development features 66 one to four-bedroom units, catering for social rented housing and families. Artists can reach their studios whenever they please via a separate entrance, settling into spaces designed for their specific needs.

Jack said: "Artists need high ceilings, big doors and a lot of wall space to hang things on. The great thing is that we were able to make these suggestions at the design stage."

Big doors are certainly handy for Helen Barff, an artist with a huge rowing boat propped up against her wall.

She said: "My last studio was a converted office and it wasn't built to be an art studio. I couldn't have had a boat in there and it wasn't fun hauling bags of plaster up the stairs.

"It was also half the size of this one. I spent the first few weeks up here walking up and down just because I could.

"It's much better to have a space which is sympathetic to what you're doing. I used to have all these ideas but couldn't actually do them."

Helen previously worked on a project based on objects found by the Thames and is now hoping to do something similar with the nearby Lea river.

She said: "When I first came here, I didn't know where I was. I was slightly intimidated and I didn't go out. Now I'm exploring by bike and slowly connecting it all up."

Studio rent at Atelier stands at £9.20 per square foot. Contracts are for seven years with rent reviews every two years. It is one of several sites around London operated by Acme, which provides space for 500 artists and has a waiting list of around 600.

While rent revenue may not be staggering for Swan, senior project manager Lawrence Norton believes the arrangement offers security and improves the area.

He said: "We had people in those spaces from day one, and that's a big benefit. We get the money for the lease straight away and it also helps to minimise anti social behaviour.

"It's a great partnership to have, especially in an area where commercial space is in low demand. It can really contribute to regeneration."

Artists in the studios range from musicians to painters and sculptors. Kitty lives in Barnet, but travels here most days to work on her paintings. Her "integration" of eastern and western styles has been seen all around the world, from Sweden to the halls of the Louvre.

She said: "I do a lot of meditative work, so I need to be able to concentrate. This is the best studio I've ever had. Acme looks after us. In some other studios you have to manage everything but here you can just concentrate on your paintings.

"You see kids shouting and kicking footballs on the street and you think 'Oh gosh', but when they came in they were very respectful. I'm not scared anymore."

The impact of the recession will naturally slow down any planned facelift for the area as a whole, but Jack thinks it's a good example to follow.

He said: "It's an area that will be redeveloped, but this is the first.

"It's difficult when you are a pioneering scheme and people have to buy in to what will come. But it's a natural mix of nice cultured people at the bottom and friendly families on top.

"It's not going to work everywhere, but if you have one in 100 like this, whether it's for dance or craft or art, if you find the right space it's not just a solution to a problem but a huge advantage to an area."

Go to acme.org.uk or swan.org.uk