Carriage Works is a remarkable part of Swindon’s industrial story, now in active use as a place to work, meet, make and learn.
Built by the Great Western Railway in the nineteenth century, the Carriage Works helped power one of the world’s most significant railway centres.
Today the restored buildings bring historic fabric and contemporary working life together. The point is not to freeze the place in time. It is to keep it useful.
Carriage Works is part of The Works, the historic area connecting Swindon’s former GWR Works and Railway Village. Its buildings and streets tell a shared story of engineering, community and ideas that helped shape the town. Explore the neighbourhood on The Works Heritage Trail.
Find out more about the heritage of this part of Swindon →From railway ingenuity to a new centre for work, learning and innovation.
1843–1868
The Great Western Railway established its works in Swindon in 1843. By 1868, the Carriage Works had expanded into a centre of craft, engineering and social innovation whose scale and ambition still shape the town.
2018
Regeneration began with Workshed: a bold new workspace carved from the historic sheds for digital, tech and creative businesses. It showed how industrial heritage could become a home for modern innovation.
2019–2024
Create Studios established a new film and media hub, the Royal Agricultural University brought research and teaching into the heart of the site, and ICaST opened to pioneer sustainable technologies.
Current
The current phase is delivering 2,000m² of adaptable office and educational space, with major structural upgrades and modern services preparing the listed buildings for their next generation of occupiers.
Next
Carriage Works is actively seeking organisations ready to shape the new space, with further development of the remaining West Shed planned as the campus continues to grow.
Swindon’s mix of connectivity, heritage, culture, green space and innovation makes it a compelling place to build a business and a life.
The regeneration of Carriage Works is part of a bold, town-wide mission to reimagine Swindon’s heart, linking historic railway buildings with major initiatives across the centre.
The Works is bringing new energy to Brunel’s Railway Village and its landmarks: a vibrant neighbourhood where history, culture, knowledge and ambitious ideas meet.
A fairer, greener and more creative town is taking shape through new homes, cultural venues, public spaces and independent businesses.
At the station gateway, Knowledge Central connects world-class research, sustainable technologies and high-growth companies with Swindon’s strong tradition of making and doing.
Together, these initiatives protect Swindon’s heritage, broaden opportunity and place Carriage Works at the centre of a better-connected future for the town.
A visit makes the scale, character and different types of space much easier to understand.