Structure studio Haworth Tompkins has up to date and prolonged the Grade II-listed Theatr Clwyd in Wales, remodeling the sprawling cultural centre right into a “welcoming civic vacation spot”.
Located on a hillside above the city of Mildew in north Wales, Theatr Clwyd, which opened in 1976, was in want of an improve to its fragmented public areas and dated amenities.
London-based Haworth Tompkins adopted a “deep retrofit technique” that aimed to protect the vast majority of the theatre’s current concrete and brick construction, whereas including “minimal extensions”.
The redevelopment additionally included the overhaul of the constructing’s mechanical and electrical providers, in addition to material enhancements and the mixing of passive design methods and on-site photovoltaic panels.
“Our ambition was to retain the spirit and character of the unique Nineteen Seventies Grade II-listed constructing, whereas opening the constructing as much as its spectacular rural panorama setting and to the neighborhood it serves,” stated studio director Lucy Picardo.
“Working carefully with the theatre staff, we’ve reimagined the constructing as a welcoming civic vacation spot,” Picardo continued.
“The result’s a renewed theatre that celebrates its previous whereas making a technically succesful and provoking setting for theatre-making lengthy into the longer term.”
Central to the redevelopment was the creation of a extra inviting entrance for the ten,000-square-metre complicated, which may beforehand be entered at three completely different factors.
“One in every of our design ideas was to welcome everybody via the identical entrance door and make it outstanding and welcoming,” Picardo defined.
To attain this, the studio added a three-storey glazed extension to the constructing’s entrance. Its timber and metal body extends outwards to shelter an exterior patio at floor degree and first-floor balcony.
Getting into via the extension, guests are guided right into a reception and cafe at floor degree, the place a newly-added central staircase and lifts substitute a “convoluted and restrictive” circulation core and enhance accessibility.
On the primary ground, the entrance extension has been organized round a central atrium that traverses three ranges and is framed by giant timber columns that demarcate the place of the unique facade.
Full-height glazing and a roof opening draw daylight into the area, which hosts a restaurant and adjoining bar ignored by extra seating on the higher ground.
Haworth Tompkins opted for a heat and “sturdy” materials palette for inside, combining the extension’s glulam, cross laminated timber (CLT) and red-toned steelwork construction with copper surfaces and pale picket flooring.
Silicone lighting fixtures designed by Rob McIntyre adorn the communal areas, together with commissioned paintings, together with a ceramic tile show by Frances Priest and occasions room curtain by Sauda Imam.
Alongside the upgrading of the centre’s three efficiency areas, occasions room and cinema, the constructing now additionally contains rehearsal rooms, studios, workshops and an workplace.
These areas are largely linked by an “inner avenue” on the primary ground, which runs between the constructing’s east and west wings.
“A part of our main transfer was to make it actually beneficiant, legible and straightforward to navigate,” Picardo stated.
On the constructing’s japanese finish, two current auditoria have been largely structurally preserved and fitted with fashionable lighting and technical amenities.
On the reverse finish of the complicated, a carpentry workshop composed of concrete block partitions has been constructed alongside new studio areas and is ignored by a public viewing walkway.
The studio additionally revamped an current ground-floor cinema, which included the growth of an adjoining lobby.
Different areas, that are but to be accomplished as a part of the redevelopment, embrace a play space and a sensory backyard designed to create extra inclusive neighborhood areas.
Beforehand, the studio accomplished an extension of The Outdated Vic in London, fronting it with a vibrant facade of recycled spotlights, and accomplished The Courtroom Theatre in New Zealand with timber benches and enormous home windows.
The images is by Philip Vile.
