Neon Pink Den in Bristol, UK
Name: Gavin Strange
Location: Bristol, UK
Occupation: Director & Designer
Room size: 9 m² (97 ft²)
Cost of the setup: $7,3K (~£6K )
Social media: Instagram, Twitter
Website: Jamfactory
Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself
Hello! My name is Gavin Strange, and I’m a 40-year-old human that lives and works in Bristol.
I live here with my wife Jane and two young kids, Sully and Sylvie, and our rescue greyhound Peggy.
By day I’m a Director & Designer for Aardman — a creative studio also based in Bristol. It’s most known for its stop-frame animation work, such as Wallace & Gromit or Shaun the Sheep, but it does so much more than that.
It creates video games, short films, commercials, immersive attractions in 2D, 3D, 4D, CG, Stop-Frame and more — it’s an awesome place to work!
That’s just the day job, though. At night, I come home, and once my kids are asleep, I go under the alias of ‘Jamfactory’.
I make all the things that absolutely no one asks for!
I do anything that takes my fancy — illustration, graphic design, characters, music, art, films — everything and anything!
Because I have the security of the day job, it lets me just explore with no pressure on what to create.
Having my own space to pursue these passion projects has always been key, and wherever I’ve lived I’ve always managed to carve out a space. Sometimes, it’s literally been under the stairs. Other times, it’s been a spare bedroom.
Now, I feel like I’ve reached my final stage of Pokémon evolution with this custom pink den of dreams!
Take us through your setup
| Item | Model |
|---|---|
| Monitor | ×2 LG 27″ Ergo with built-in clamp and stand |
| Monitor light bar | ×3 Phillips Hue Play Light Bar |
| Laptop | MacBook Pro 2021 — M1 Max |
| Speakers | JBL 104’s |
| Headphones | Bose |
| Keyboard | Keychron K4 |
| Mouse | Apple Mighty Mouse |
| Chair | Herman Miller Aeron (via 2ndhnd.com) |
| Web camera | GoPro Hero 10 Black and Razer Kiyo Pro |
| Macro Controller/Launcher | Loupedeck Live |
| Streaming PC setup | Intel Xeon W-2145 CPU, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8GB GPU, 64GB ECC REG Memory, 2x Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 512GB, SuperMicro X11SRA Motherboard, Fractal Design Define R6 Case, BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 11 PSU |
| Streaming lights | Elgato Keylight |
| Streaming mic | Rode NT-USB |
| Streaming controller | ‘Wotto’ MIDI controller |
| Synthesizer/Sequencer | Teenage Engineering OP-Z |
| Synthesizer/Sequencer | Teenage Engineering OP-1 |
| Synthesizer/Sequencer | Korg Monologue |
| MIDI Controller | MIDI Fighter 3D |
| Audio Controller | Ableton Push 2 |
So the space itself is quite small but it was custom built for me by my brilliant Dad in a secret location in central Bristol.
It doesn’t need to be massive, though, because all it needs to hold is my computers, toys and tech.
I lovingly refer to it as “the den”, and dens are usually quite small and cosy anyways, aren’t they?
I love being surrounded by everything I’m inspired by.
So being able to put up shelves for toys and mount artworks on the walls is a big part of the appeal of having my own custom space.
It took around three months in total for my Dad to build the shell, do the interior and then paint it pink, install the artificial grass walls and floor, and then get the tables set up and ready for all my machines and gear.
Some stuff took a bit longer, like getting the air con installed but I was up and ready to go after about the 12-week mark.
My Dad was doing it on weekdays and weekends when he could, do it wasn’t like a pressured timeline or anything. Especially as I was only paying for materials rather than labour (thanks, Dad!).
So my room looks like… an assault on the eyeballs.
It has neon pink-painted MDF walls and ceiling, with artificial plant walls and fake grass flooring.
The walls are peppered with translucent shelves full of vinyl toys and collectables.
Another space is filled with prints, skateboards, and trinkets.