Bookbinding Studio in Fish Island: £150 Day Classes at LCBA

Most people who search for a bookbinding studio in London want somewhere they can actually make a book with proper equipment, not a one-hour craft table. The London Centre for Book Arts, known to almost everyone as LCBA, is that place. It occupies Britannia Works at 56 Dace Road, London E3 2NQ, on Fish Island just across the water from Hackney Wick, with the entrance opposite Bream Street. Inside is an open-access studio full of presses, shears and letterpress kit.

LCBA was set up by Simon Goode and Ira Yonemura, and its own history page says the studio opened in October 2012 after several years of planning and hunting down hard-to-find equipment. Simon, from Wolverhampton, studied Book Arts and Crafts at the London College of Communication, where he was taught by some of the last trade bookbinders and print finishers. Ira, from Kagoshima in Japan, studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and came to books through artist publishing.

That mix of trade craft and artist self-publishing still shapes the place. You will see traditional case bindings drying under weights next to zines and small-run artist books. The pair also wrote two books about the work: Making Books, a practical guide published by Pavilion in 2017, and Books: Art, Craft and Community, published by Ludion in 2021. Both are worth reading before a class if you want to arrive knowing the vocabulary.

The beginner route is the Introduction to Bookbinding series. Part 1 covers pamphlets, concertinas and Japanese stab bindings in a single day for £150, and the next listed date with places is 11 February 2027. For a deeper start there is the three-day Foundation course at £415, running from 10 am to 5 pm, with a December 2026 session already listed. Those who already know the basics can take Intermediate Bookbinding, where a November date covers half and quarter bindings with a recessed panel for £150.

The most ambitious option is Making Books School, a five-day course listed at £650 for 22 to 26 February 2027. It is designed for people who want to leave with several structures and a working method rather than a single souvenir notebook. Every class runs at the Dace Road studio, so you learn on the same presses and shears that members use for their own work.

The one thing to plan around is demand. On the LCBA workshop listings, the late October, November and December 2026 dates already show as sold out, which is normal for a small studio with limited bench space. If you have a gift or a birthday in mind, buy a place on a 2027 date now and hand over the booking rather than waiting for a cancellation.

LCBA is not only a classroom. Its Studio Pass gives makers access to the equipment for their own projects, and the founders describe the studio as open to everyone regardless of background, education or experience. That matters in London, where few people have room at home for a board shear, a guillotine or a heavy standing press. A pass turns the studio into a shared workshop where a finished class project can become the first of many books.

It helps to know what the classes teach before you choose one. A pamphlet is a single folded section sewn through the fold, the quickest way to make a booklet. A concertina is a folded strip that opens like an accordion, ideal for drawings or photographs. A Japanese stab binding is sewn through holes near the spine, so the stitching becomes part of the design. Half and quarter bindings, taught at intermediate level, combine a cloth or leather spine with paper-covered boards, and the recess is a shallow sunken panel for a title label.

Fish Island takes its name from the streets named after fish, including Dace Road and Bream Street, and the area is now a cluster of converted warehouses, bakeries and studios beside the River Lea and the Hertford Union Canal. After a class, walk the towpath north and you reach Hackney Wick station in a few minutes, with canal-side bars and breweries along the way.

Cross the footbridges east and you are at the edge of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where the London Stadium and the twisting red ArcelorMittal Orbit make a dramatic contrast to a day of quiet hand sewing. On weekends the park paths are good for an easy loop, and the canal benches are a pleasant place to look over what you made before carrying it home.

There is a neat bit of timing in the story too. LCBA opened its doors in October 2012, only weeks after the London Olympic and Paralympic Games ended next door, when Fish Island was still mostly yards and empty warehouses. Walking these streets today, with studios, flats and cafes filling the old industrial plots, you can see how much the neighbourhood has changed around the studio since then.

Opening times on the LCBA website are Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, closed on Sundays. The nearest station is Hackney Wick on the Overground, and the studio is a short walk south across the canal. LCBA is also a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer, a small detail that tells you how the studio is run.

Bring a pencil, a notebook and comfortable clothes, and travel light, since the work happens at shared benches. A folder or a flat bag is handy for carrying freshly glued boards home without bending the corners. If you are traveling from central London, allow extra time for the Overground and the walk, because a late arrival can mean missing the first demonstration. LCBA also runs an online shop, which is useful when you want to keep practising at home with the same kind of thread and paper used in class.