From Holloway Mills to Elthorne Properties
Studio N19 stands on ground rich with North London history — a building that has reinvented itself through centuries of industry, resilience, and creativity.
Originally known as Holloway Mills, the site appears on maps as early as the 1870s. It was operated by Betts & Co, a pioneering firm founded in 1804 by J.T. Betts in Bordeaux and later brought to London by his son. The company specialised in producing wooden and metal packaging, becoming one of the leading manufacturers of tin capsules and bespoke containers.
During the First World War, Holloway Mills became one of Britain’s vital national factories, contributing directly to the war effort by producing respirator components and gas mask parts. Inside, hundreds of women — many working industrial jobs for the first time — helped manufacture equipment crucial to frontline survival. The legacy of their labour still echoes through the building’s bones.
After the war, Betts & Co evolved with the times, eventually merging into Courtauld’s in the 1960s. The building later housed educational institutions, including the Kogan Academy of Dramatic Arts and the University of the Arts London (UAL) — continuing a tradition of purpose, performance, and transformation.
Today, we honour that legacy by reimagining this unique structure as Studio N19 — a modern creative campus at the heart of Archway. Whether it’s innovation in education, diagnostics, design or care, this building has always served those pushing the world forward.
Welcome to the next chapter.
Elthorne Properties 