Full of Noises is an artist-led organisation working with sound and experimental music. In 2010 we moved into Piel View House, a charming but slightly dilapidated former park keepers’ house in Barrow Park.

Immediately, we started to think about how artists might respond to working in the park and with the bandstand, boating lake and pitch and putt course. As a pilot, we held monthly installation and performance events on the bandstand through the Winter months and went on to produce many weird but family-friendly events as part of our festival programme.

Between 2010 and 2020, many artists, public and guests passed through the space, arriving for short residencies, workshops, and even the odd overnight camping session. Despite being a great place to make art and sound, it was never particularly accessible or warm and we continued to programme most of our live events in venues around Barrow.

As our vision for the festival began to shift, we considered working on a smaller scale with a view to presenting intimate, regular events in the park. Over a number of years, we worked with architect and musician Jonathan Lindh of LEDA to rethink Piel View and how it might become a low-carbon studio and events centre. We completed phase one of the renovation in 2022, adding a new public performance space and improving the existing ground floor. Since then, we’ve hosted over 60 events in the space and have welcomed over 1,000 people through the doors.

During the lengthy renovation, we invited photographer Phil Green to capture the process and the changing face of the building. For this publication, Phil has taken us back to his initial shoot at Piel View, a transitional moment recording a series of almost-empty domestic spaces with only the things that are left once the skips have been towed away and the boxes packed.

What excited us most about Phil’s images were his attention both to the textures of the place (peeling paper, mildew, questionable choices in gloss paint), and the (slightly sad) still lives of lost/found objects that were left behind; one last look around before the builders arrive.

Glenn Boulter 

Published October 2024 to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the first Full of Noises Festival

With thanks to Jonathan Lindh, Pippa Martin, John Hall, Andrew Deakin and all of the artists that have passed through Piel View since 2010.