Suzan Altay Archives

Photographer, designer and entrepreneur Steve Nyman has brought his talents together in Royal Docks spaces beside Tate & Lyle

Our Urban Oasis is located in Royal Docks at The Factory Project opposite Tate & Lyle

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Venture to the banks of the Thames in Royal Docks and, on a patch of land close to Tate & Lyle’s North Woolwich factory, you’ll find a small forest of logs and tree stumps arranged behind a shipping container.

But this collection of offcuts isn’t a pile of unwanted timber, dumped by an unscrupulous tree surgeon.

It’s the raw material from which two interrelated businesses have emerged.

Steve Nyman knows the power of an image.

Bitten early by the photography bug he was “obsessed with the camera” as a schoolboy, turning that passion into a successful shooting career in the fashion sector that’s taken him all over the world working with models and brands.

However, there was also an underlying desire to explore creativity beyond the lens.

“During the pandemic, I was just sitting there and thinking,” he said.

“I’d always been good at sourcing locations – I guess I’ve got a sense for an aesthetic and an eye for design.

“I love nature and it was on a trip to Thailand that I found inspiration.

“There was this piece of driftwood on a beach that just looked like a coffee table – I wanted to take it home and regretted leaving it behind, although I did bring back an amazing shell.

“I thought that if I could find these kinds of pieces of wood and work with them in England, then that’s what I’d like to do.

Steve Nyman of Our Urban Oasis and Hidden Gems Design, surrounded by the raw material he works with

“By chance, I met a guy with a woodworking shop at Thames-Side Studios in Woolwich where I was based.

“I approached him with some of my ideas and designs, started working in his workshop and learnt a lot from him as he turned them into a reality.

“That’s how Hidden Gems Design was born.

“We use pieces of natural wood that would otherwise be burnt or end up in the chipper to create pieces of furniture and sculptures.

“We reclaim them from tree surgeons and give them a new lease of life.

“It’s very sustainable because we’re saving this material from going to waste.

“If it wasn’t for someone making something out of a fallen tree, it would be burned.”

The furniture at Our Urban Oasis comes from Hidden Gems Design

creating Our Urban Oasis

Hidden Gems took off, with Steve’s work in demand from interior designers and a stream of direct commissions, but things haven’t ended there.

In tandem with his furniture business, he’s created a fresh, innovative venture in Royal Docks that’s also proving a hit with clients.

“I live locally and I was scouting around with the idea of opening a photography studio,” said Steve, who also makes ceramic pieces.

“I used to store my wood at The Silver Building which is also owned by Projekt and space at The Factory Project came up so I took it on and opened Our Urban Oasis.

“I now have two photography studio spaces that I hire out and my workshop is also here, so it’s really convenient.”

Both studios are on two levels and, in contrast to the typical blank canvas approach of many providers, Steve has kitted them out with a wide selection of pieces from Hidden Gems that clients are free to incorporate into their photoshoots, videos or other creative works.

Steve has filled his studios with furniture and sculptural pieces mostly made from natural wood

Visitors can even buy the pieces on display, should they so wish.

“A lot of these studio spaces tend to copy each other, but I trust my own tastes,” said Steve.

“I think that if I like it, then there will be other people that do too.

“It’s satisfying to see people enjoying it and we’re very popular. I think people hire the spaces because they want something different.

“I hope they find the furniture and decor inspiring – some of the walls are natural clay.

“It’s a creative space where people can come and it’s organic, they can use it for whatever they want.

“It can be a film set, a place to record podcasts, video content or to do fashion shoots. Everything can be moved around and we have plain backgrounds too so it can be used for e-commerce.

“There’s a kind of zen feeling about it, so I get a lot of people involved in the wellbeing sector using it.”

Steve’s pieces from Hidden Gems fill the space, with everything from sofas and chairs to dining tables and tree stumps on wheels available as props.

“A lot of them feature live edge work – where the bark has just come off and the wood has a natural shape to it,” he said.

“Each piece is truly unique. I could make a new version of a piece we’ve already done, but it will never be exactly the same because the wood will be different.

“I always get surprises with the timber we work with because, until you get it inside the workshop and start to cut it and work with it, you don’t know what it will be like.

“We’ll plane a piece down and it’ll be: ‘Wow, look at that,’ and there’s the inspiration.”

Our Urban Oasis' spaces are available for a wide variety of uses — Our Urban Oasis’ spaces are available for a wide variety of uses

providing flexible spaces

Our Urban Oasis enjoys a varied array of clients with people finding all kinds of uses for the space.

“It’s such a mixture,” said Steve.

“We’ve had celebrities here doing shoots for magazines and we get big fashion brands as well. It’s really surprising.

“We get plenty of natural light and there’s a real summer vibe when the sun is streaming through the window.

“The building itself is very secure and I think people sometimes wonder what they’re coming into when they arrive at the gates because of The Factory Project’s industrial history, but it also means we’re nice and quiet.”

That’s likely to be of special benefit for Our Urban Oasis’ forthcoming evening of Candlelit Yin Yoga And Sound Bath.

The event is set to take place on December 7 from 4pm to 6pm and will be led by Yoga and Pilates teacher Suzan Altay.

Tickets for the event, which include home made muffins and herbal tea, cost £40 per person and are available online via this link.

Fitting for the flexibility of the space, that this event offers a fresh dimension to the possibilities amid Steve’s sculptural creations.

key details: Our Urban Oasis

Our Urban Oasis offers a range of studio spaces at The Factory Project in Royal Docks, decorated with pieces from Hidden Gems Design.

Steve’s pieces are also available to purchase online and he remains available for interior commissions

Find out more about the studio spaces here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

Personal trainer and fitness instructor was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a tumour

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“I cannot emphasise enough the importance of self-checking your breasts,” said Suzan Altay.

“I was lucky that I found the lump because, five months before, it hadn’t shown up on the mammogram or MRI.”

Suzan, who lives on the Isle Of Dogs and works as an elite personal trainer and Yoga and Pilates instructor at Third Space in Canary Wharf, was no stranger to having scans as part of a high risk group.

“I’d been going for check-ups twice a year since my early 20s because of fibrocystic breasts – cysts in the tissue,” she said.

“They call them lumpy breasts, so I’d go for the regular appointments and trust that process.

“It was just before I was due to go for a scan that I realised something was wrong.

“I was doing my stretching exercises one Sunday morning, when I suddenly discovered something that wasn’t there before.

“It was about the size of a pea and it wasn’t moving.

“Because I was on the priority list, I got an appointment immediately – I was referred for a biopsy, which confirmed that the lump was cancerous.

“Then they had to decide what kind of treatment I was going to have.

“The first biopsy suggested I should have a lumpectomy, where they just remove the tumour and the tissue around it.

“But a further MRI showed another mass, meaning I would need a mastectomy.

“I was given the option to have one or both breasts removed and for safety I decided to have both.

“It was supposed to be just the surgery because it was local, but during the surgery they check the lymph nodes, and found out that the cancer had spread to them too.

“Five months earlier, the scans hadn’t picked anything up and then all this.

“It was horrible, I was terrified.

“You put your trust in doctors, machines and so on – I’d not missed a single appointment in 20 years – and then all of a sudden you start questioning what was missed?

“Did I eat too many grapes? Did I not drink enough water?

“You want to make sense of it to protect yourself, but you have to accept that, with these kind of things, nobody really knows the cause.”

Because the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, doctors recommended an aggressive approach to the disease.

“I think the hardest part of the whole treatment was the chemotherapy and losing my hair was part of that,” she said.

“It took them a month to decide what kind of drugs would be necessary.

“During the surgery I’d had breast reconstruction and I was lucky to preserve my nipples – so I’d had a month getting used to my new body when I started losing my hair from the cocktail of medication I was given.

“I had 16 sessions and then radiotherapy, which took about 11 months in total.

“It happened just after the pandemic, so while lots of people were going back to work, I didn’t for about a year.

“When you’re on chemo, the drugs make you feel sick but you also take medication to stop you throwing up – that was just a horrible feeling and you’re tired all the time.

“I was really fortunate with the radiotherapy I didn’t have a rash or anything, and I kept asking the nurses if it was really working, because I had no effects at all.

“I was even able to go back to teaching so I would go for treatment in the morning and then take classes afterwards.

“Then, on February 1 last year I was given the all clear – I had a bottle in the fridge all ready to celebrate and then I got Covid.

“It’s been more than a year now, everything seems fine and I’m good.

“I’m on daily medication and every three months I have to go for injections but my check-ups are now scaled back.

“I do get tired and sometimes a low mood, but physically and mentally I’m building up my strength again.

“The reason I wanted to tell my story was to raise awareness so women keep checking themselves and keep pushing if they find something they think isn’t right.

“Around one in three women in the UK will get cancer and finding it early is really important.

“I was lucky – when I found my lump the cancer had already spread and I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t found it then.

“I knew of a lady at one of the gyms I worked at who’d had cancer and was fine.

“Then she suddenly disappeared and I later discovered she had passed away – she was younger than me.

“Each day I think of her because my story could so easily have been like hers.

“Even though the treatment can take a lot out of you mentally, as well as physically, breast cancer has a high survival rate because it is relatively easy to treat.

“In my life I’ve jumped from planes and dived with sharks – I was fearless, but now I realise I can be afraid because life can be taken away just like that.”

Suzan is a personal trainer and Yoga and Pilates instructor at Third Space in Canary Wharf

Cancer can come for anyone.

Those who have attended one of Suzan’s classes at Third Space (myself included) will have been struck by her apparently boundless levels of energy and infectious passion for both Yoga and Pilates.

Having come to the UK in her early 20s from Cyprus, she initially studied sound engineering, before going on to work in the field.

Having long practised Yoga, she chose to train as a teacher after breaking up with a boyfriend and deciding to do something for herself – making the switch to the fitness industry and later going on to qualify as a Pilates instructor and a personal trainer.

“It’s an important time in your life when you find yourself,” she said.

“I loved sound engineering when I was doing it, but when I’m on the mat I feel I have more confidence – I know what I’m doing and it gives me pleasure.

“Once I started learning more about Yoga it gave me something – I didn’t realise what that was until I started teaching, but it was what I’d been missing in my previous career.

“It can be demanding, but I never feel tired in the classroom.

“The benefits of practising both Yoga and Pilates are really good and have helped me recover.

“The body is such an amazing machine, but it’s so important to be aware of it – everyone should keep checking themselves because things can go wrong.”