Download MEDIA INFORMATION Transformed Royal Shakespeare and Swan

MEDIA INFORMATION
Transformed Royal Shakespeare
and Swan Theatres
Contact details...
Press contact:Sarah Rushton-Read
The Fifth Estate Ltd
[email protected]
07881 826 852
Charcoalblue contact: Andy Hayles
[email protected]
07966 284 050
Charcoalblue Ltd
17 Short Street, Bankside
London SE1 8LJ
020 7928 0000
www.charcoalblue.com
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
How did it happen...
Completed: November 2010
Project design: RSC/Charcoalblue/
Bennetts Associates
Overall Budget: £112.8m
Charcoalblue’s brief was simple - to transform Elisabeth Scott’s 1932 Royal
Shakespeare Theatre into the definitive environment in which to perform and
enjoy Shakespeare.
The original cinema-style auditorium had been stretched and adapted to
its limits, and in its latter years had more critics than supporters. The old
building struggled to accommodate the modern-day needs of a busy and
creative repertory company and the auditorium design prevented all but the
most distant relationship between audience and players – something had to
be done.
In tandem with the RSC and Bennetts Associates Architects, Charcoalblue
was tasked with developing an intimate auditorium that embraces artists and
audience alike, whilst at the same time creating a unity between the original
elements dating from 1879, the Art Deco building of 1932 and The Swan
Theatre added in 1986.
Charcoalblue also radically improved the technical systems so as to afford
designers and directors new and stimulating creative potential and provide a
safer working environment for everyone.
Gavin Green, Design Director for Charcoalblue says: “The brief was to create
a performance environment that Shakespeare himself might have recognised,
and at the same time comfortably accommodate 1000 people around a thrust
stage. Our designs for the prototype Courtyard, which provided a temporary
home for the RSC while the main house was redeveloped, helped inform the
new theatre design. Nevertheless we re-examined and re-tested every part
of the Courtyard design for the new RST. Critically, we asked: ‘What makes a
good thrust stage - and how do we improve on the Courtyard?’
The result is that the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a more intimate and
compact space than the Courtyard. It has a stronger geometrical basis, which
reinforces the compression and focus of the room. Improved acoustics, extra
reflective surfaces and enhanced seating, arranged democratically around the
room, all make the space a rewarding place to be.
The auditorium is based around an unfolded 12-sided form - the geometry of
which creates separate audience communities around the stage, and builds a
vertical rhythm in the architecture.
The surrounding site of the existing Grade II* Listed theatre proved to be
complex. Set on a floodplain, it is essentially an island site comprising a
series of historic buildings, which are bounded by the River Avon on one side
and by a road on the other, with parkland to the front and back.
unfolded 12-sided geometry
The new auditorium and stage sit between the old 1932 flytower at the rear
of the auditorium and the retained Art Deco foyer at the front of the building.
The old proscenium brick wall provides a respectful tension with the new
auditorium, while the addition of the thrust stage offers fresh and exciting
artistic opportunities for both directors and designers.
‘As someone who has played all the
RSC’s theatres, it seems to me that what
the Company has found is a brilliant
way of retaining the best of the original
building while constructing a new
theatre which will work wonderfully for
actors and audiences alike.
We are creating a theatre in Stratford
that Shakespeare could walk into and
recognise as a playhouse for his work.
It’s a spectacular idea.’
Dame Judi Dench, Actress
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
‘The RSC is a complex and pressurising
client and Charcoalblue are genuine, robust
collaborators. They have a strong sense of
the rhythm of when to be open and when
it’s time to start closing.’
Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director
A new 7m-high flying zone above the thrust is complemented by a 7m-deep
basement, which means actors who descend from the heavens can then drop
to the depths of hell!
Beneath the modular stage, a large scenic lift assists with the repertory’s
scenic storage. At high level a new modular dual winch system, designed by
Trekwerk b.v. in collaboration with Charcoalblue and the RSC, allows for the
flexible deployment of motorised flying points across the thrust and flytower
stages. These points can be grouped together or used independently, and
are intended for the suspension of technical equipment or the movement of
scenic elements whilst also providing the potential for performer flying.
Over and around the thrust stage there is also a system of individual
motorised lighting hoists, now colloquially named the “lighting clusters”.
These units provide an adaptable rigging system for lighting in key areas that
would otherwise be difficult to reach within a thrust-stage auditorium.
Gavin Owen comments: “The success of the lighting clusters has only been
made possible through the development of the innovative RSC Lightlock,
the brainchild of the RSC’s Head of Lighting, Vince Herbert. With a Lightlock
installed on each cluster it is now possible to use a moving light on what is
essentially a trapeze arrangement, without the momentum of the fixture
being transferred onto the rigging position, which would otherwise create
unwanted and prolonged ‘wobble’.”
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
Charcoalblue also led the designs for the new bespoke seating in the theatre,
developing a sophisticated series of seats - twenty five different types in all each giving the audience optimum sightlines and comfort around a compact
three-dimensional stage.
When the RSC began its Transformation programme, Charcoalblue was the
UK’s newest theatre consultant. Managing Director Andy Hayles discusses:
“We were approaching our first birthday when we offered our initial thoughts
for the Courtyard Theatre to Vikki Heywood - in her kitchen. Later, working
alongside the RSC’s technical team, we devised an innovative solution to
touring the eight ‘Histories’ plays into London. They had previously been
running very successfully, back-to-back, on the Courtyard’s thrust stage.
Michael Boyd was not keen on re-staging the productions so we needed to
recreate a thrust stage environment in a London theatre – no simple task!
The result was the Roundyard: a very successful, temporary ‘Courtyard’style theatre design that sat in its entirety, and ingeniously snugly, inside the
circular plan of the Camden Roundhouse.”
Six years on, having led the auditorium and technical design for the
Courtyard, the Roundyard and now the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre,
Charcoalblue has grown from a team of six to more than twenty permanent
employees; with an extended family of a further ten associates. Today the
company has a turnover ten times that of its first year’s trading and it is
exporting its unique theatre design services worldwide - a success story on
every level.
‘From the early days of the Courtyard Theatre, the RSC
became our lives. Theatre clients are always highly
demanding - used to working on productions where
design and change happen quickly. As the theatre
designers for the new building we had to keep up and
match this pace responding around production and
rehearsal schedules.
Over six years the Charcoalblue team has lived and
breathed thrust theatres, with the RSC we’ve designed
three different theatres for the RSC and fine tuned
each space building on knowledge gained as we’ve
progressed. We’ve developed unparalleled expertise in
this field of auditorium design - as well as the Young Vic
we’re currently working on thrust stage schemes for a
new Liverpool Everyman, Chichester Festival Theatre
and overhauling the National’s Cottesloe.’
Andy Hayles, Managing Director, Charcoalblue
Facts and figures...15m from stage to furthest seat.
1,046 seats - 502 in the stalls, 266 circle and 278
in the gallery. 24 different types of seats. 22 special seats folding into the floor. 14 standing positions. 355 miles of cabling and 423 Facilities panels
for the Stagelighting and Audiovisual infrastructure
and 8 installed dimmer racks, 7 installed dimmer
racks in the Swan. 40 loudspeakers. 60 dual winches
providing 120 flexibly deployable motorised points,
capable of 400kg payload. 30 lighting clusters deployed in 53 positions. Overstage system features
regenerative technology. 100T of steelwork used
in the structural frame for the stage, erected in 3
weeks. Scenic lift moves 10T load at 2 metres per
second. 150 modular panels in stage floor. Around
20,000 Charcoalblue man hours spent. 889 documents issued by CBL. 944 design documents were
received from specialist contractors. 10,289 comments made by Charcoalblue on contractor documents across entire project.
How did it start... Courtyard
The prototype Courtyard, conventionally unconventional...
In 2005/2006, in close collaboration with the RSC and Ian Ritchie Architects,
Charcoalblue designed the 1000-seat Courtyard auditorium as a temporary
1:1 scale prototype of the future main house thrust-stage configuration. In
the four years since it opened it has been hugely successful, both artistically
and commercially.
Not only has it has allowed the RSC to fully test and troubleshoot the thrust
stage format ahead of opening the new theatre, but it has also enabled the
company to feed this experience back to the design teams working on the
redevelopment forming a vital part of their new home’s regeneration. In
addition it has allowed the RSC to maintain its Stratford-upon-Avon operation
throughout the transformation process, acclimatise its existing audience to
the thrust stage environment, and develop new a new audience for future
work while holding on to many of its valued, skilled staff.
However, it has always been the case that as soon as the regenerated RST is
up and running, the Courtyard will be decommissioned and the RSC’s studio
space, The Other Place, will be reinstated. Charcoalblue therefore carefully
designed every part of the auditorium technical infrastructure to be modular,
flexible and reusable. Much of the sound, lighting and video cabling can be
stripped out and reused. The Charcoalblue-designed bridges can be broken
down into component parts; the automated flying system is stand-alone and
can be removed; amplifiers, motors, in fact everything – except perhaps a
few hard wired outlet boxes on the technical galleries – can be loaded out
into wagons and re-installed in practically any other venue in the world!
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
‘When we walked in for the first time, there was an audible gasp... it’s so
high, like a cathedral of theatre, but then you notice how close the audience
is. The space is big, but they’re right there. It’s a perfect example of
marrying the epic with the domestic and personal.’
Chuk Iwuji, RSC actor, on playing Henry VI
‘The Courtyard... is bit of a smasher’
Michael Billington, Guardian
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
‘Courtyard Theatre... at once more loved
than most theatres are after decades’
Financial Times
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
The Courtyard was experimental in its concept; essentially designed to
be played with. Charcoalblue worked intimately with RSC Artistic Director
Michael Boyd, his immediate team, and the technical departments as a
whole, to ensure they got as close to a working model of their vision for the
future from the start.
Charcoalblue designed the horseshoe tiers of the auditorium in such a
way that no seat is more than 15 metres from the stage. The audience
relationship with the actors is honest, physical and two-way. Michael Boyd
and his ensemble have tested every conceivable aspect of the theatre’s
thrust-stage dimensions. In the last four years, actors have shimmied up
ladders from stage to seating galleries, climbed and slid down ropes dropped
out of the roof, made dramatic entrances from movable bridges, appeared
from beneath the floor, auditorium sides and rear, and inhabited the space
with few apparent boundaries.
Although built as temporary space, The Courtyard has earned itself a place
in theatrical history and perhaps more importantly in the hearts of the RSC’s
ensemble, designers, technicians and audience alike. Although sad to see it
go they know it’s been the most excellent prequel for what’s just about to
come.
Completed: Summer 2006
Budget: £6 million
Project design: RSC / Charcoalblue / Ian Ritchie
‘Ultimately the goal from both Charcoalblue’s
and the RSC’s perspective was to make a
virtue of the temporary nature of the building.
We designed the technical infrastructure
so that loose cabling and multicores supply
everything from the technical gallery boxes
onwards. A network of cable baskets circulates
the building delivering multicores to each
soffit and around the underside of the stalls
at the rear. They also feed out to the top of
each of the over-stage bridges. This massively
cut down on the amount of non-reusable,
permanently installed wiring.’
Jon Stevens - Creative Director, Charcoalblue
How did it happen... Roundyard
RSC @ The Camden Roundhouse ‘As the RSC like it...’
The RSC was looking for a way to transfer Michael Boyd’s incredibly
successful soap-opera style presentations of Shakespeare’s eight History
plays to London from the Courtyard. Not wanting to change the staging in
any significant way, Michael Boyd charged Charcoalblue with the task of
finding a London venue that would accommodate a thrust stage and enough
seats to make the transfer into London economically viable.
Having just completed work on the Roundhouse and knowing the venue
intimately, Charcoalblue felt it would be easier to re-build the Courtyard
inside the Roundhouse than it would be to put a thrust stage into an existing
proscenium theatre.
The company developed the concept design for a temporary theatre to be
built inside the Roundhouse. To keep costs down, we made innovative use of
the Roundhouse’s own temporary seating equipment.
Charcoalblue originally planned to carbon copy the Courtyard Auditorium and
stage, and rebuild it in Camden. What was eventually required was a similar,
yet more economical structure, sympathetic to the boundaries, pillars and
existing infrastructure of the Roundhouse. The company agreed on a concept
scheme, which Alan Bartlett, the RSC’s Head of Construction and Technical
Design, and Peter Bailey, Deputy Technical and Project Manager, developed
further and then built in the company’s Stratford workshops and ultimately
toured into the Camden Roundhouse.
(c) RSC Stuart Hemley
‘Capacity, sightlines, plus the need to
accommodate complex aerial work over the
audience were key drivers in our choice.
Having visited numerous central and
West End venues plus a variety of disused
buildings nothing proved suitable. The only
feasible place to recreate the thrust stage
and auditorium of the Courtyard and still to
provide suitable audience facilities such as
bars, restaurants, toilets, disabled access
etc was the Camden Roundhouse.’
Gavin Green - Design Director, Charcoalblue
The Roundyard project afforded Charcoalblue and the RSC a further exploration
into the thrust stage format, continuing the stage development and lessons
learned from the Courtyard Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Transformation project.
The RSC Roundyard, like the Courtyard, was a huge artistic and commercial
success. This suggests, that with fewer than expected costs, a theatre
auditorium, stage and technical infrastructure can be created in almost the
same way as a set design is built on a stage. Assuming the RSC can find a
space that can accommodate the Roundyard, the company can tour RST thruststage productions, uncompromised, anywhere it likes, time and time again.
Completed: April 2008 (& 2010)
Project design: RSC / Charcoalblue
Cast list...
The Charcoalblue project team and what they say...
Andy Hayles, Managing Director
[email protected]
On the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s redevelopment, Andy was Project Principal
for Charcoalblue. He was fully involved in all aspects of the project, from the
initial planning and design stages back in 2006, right through to overseeing the
final testing of the entire new staging infrastructure in the new building this
autumn - and every stage in between!
Andy has thirteen years experience in theatre consultancy, including two
years as a director of Theatre Projects Consultants. He was co-founder of
Charcoalblue in 2004. He also has six years experience as a theatre practitioner,
including three years as Chief Electrician/Lighting Designer at the Theatre Royal,
Richmond.
In addition to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Redevelopment, some of Andy’s
past and current projects include: the Courtyard Theatre, RSC, Stratfordupon-Avon; National Theatre Studio, London; Old Vic Theatre, Bristol;
Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse; National Theatre Future Project; Camden
Roundhouse, London; Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square; Royal Exchange
Theatre, Manchester and the Young Vic Theatre, London.
‘At the beginning of the RST Transformation project we held a project start-up workshop for everyone
involved in the project management. Over the course of a day, the various design teams, engineers and
construction managers introduced themselves and explained their role. It was three in the afternoon before
I said my bit. By then we’d all been sitting in a stuffy conference room for six hours and we were feeling
pretty weary.
‘In total about forty of us had spent the day sat in a darkened room in rows watching PowerPoint
presentations. When it was my turn I asked that we move the chairs and screen out of the way and asked
everyone to arrange themselves as we’d been sat earlier. I invited each participant to come to the front and
say a few words, then think about how that felt.
‘I then asked everyone to form a horseshoe shape – two rows of 20 - to create a thrust stage configuration
in the middle. Again I asked people to take it in turns to say a few words. Everyone said it was intimidating
enough to stand in front of 40 people head on, but to be surrounded by them on three sides made the hairs
on the back of their necks stand on end - it made a huge difference! In two rows of 20, no one is more than
two or three meters away from the speaker whereas in four rows of 10 the back row is five to six meters
away and the people at the back could very easily be asleep!
‘When we reached practical completion the site manager for MACE, Jim Gillespie said to me: ‘I’ll always
remember what you did in that conference room, it was like a veil was lifted from my eyes. Suddenly I
completely got what the RSC was trying to achieve with the thrust stage’.
‘It doesn’t matter how many times I walk onto the RST thrust stage, even when the auditorium is
completely empty, I find it as powerful and electrifying as the first time. What’s fantastic is that even in a
hotel conference room, years before the foundations were laid, the teams who would transform the theatre
understood why and what it was Michael Boyd was striving to achieve - it remains a profound experience to
this day.’
Gavin Green, Design Director
[email protected]
For the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Gavin led the auditorium design
process. This was a natural progression from his work on the prototype
Courtyard Theatre - completed in close collaboration with the RSC - and his
concept designs for the RSC’s temporary theatre, the Roundyard inside the
Roundhouse. Throughout the latter stages of the project, Gavin and his team
led the design of the highly bespoke theatre seats through to manufacture and
installation.
Gavin is also currently working with the National Theatre’s recently appointed
design team on improvements to the Cottesloe Theatre, extending the room’s
capacity and maximising audience comfort and sightlines.
Projects currently on site and in design include the New Marlowe Theatre,
Canterbury; a replacement for Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre, and the rebuilding
of the Empire Theatre, Barbados. Also by Gavin and opening the same time
as the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is the new theatre at the heart of the Corby
Cube development.
Gavin co-founded Charcoalblue and has thirteen years experience as a theatre
design consultant building different venues around the world. He is a trained
architect and specialises in auditorium design, theatre planning and feasibility
studies. He has also taught at Kent University’s School of Architecture and
Drama Department.
‘After the auditorium design came the seat design. Charcoalblue worked with the company that designs the
seats for Ferrari cars – so they’re naturally very good at working in small spaces! Their factory is in Italy,
near Ancona, to which there were regular, direct Ryan Air flights. However during one of our earlier visits,
the return flight simply didn’t turn up!
‘Everyone on the team had to get back to London for the next day so we scurried about, hurriedly arranging
new flights leaving from Boulogne - two and a half hours away in a taxi. Being the shortest member of our
team I gallantly folded myself into the boot of the car in order to save an additional 300 Euros taxi fare.
‘I’ll always remember Peter Wilson, Project Director, beaming at me from his comfortable front seat position,
‘Think of it this way Gav, there are people who’d pay money for a team bonding exercises like this!’
Jon Stevens, Creative Director
[email protected]
Jon’s ten years experience in theatre consultancy and previous role as a lighting
electrician for the RSC meant that he was Charcoalblue’s natural choice to
design the lighting and sound systems for the RST Transformation. Working
closely with the RSC’s own technical teams, headed up by Vince Herbert and
Jeremy Dunn, Jon designed and developed the systems which underpin the new
theatre’s innovative and highly sophisticated technical capability.
As well as working for the RSC, Jon’s technical theatre experience included
work for the National Theatre, Opera North, Sheffield Theatres, Phoenix Dance
Company and four years for Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Head of Sound.
Some of Jon’s other projects for Charcoalblue include the National Theatre
Future Project, London; Snape Maltings Hoffmann Building, Suffolk; the Ebert
Room at Glyndebourne, East Sussex; St George’s Chapel, Great Yarmouth; and
the Curve Theatre, Leicester.
‘Working on the redevelopment of the RST felt like coming home for
me - because it was! Growing up in Stratford, I had walked past the
theatre every day on my way to and from school, and seen many of the
productions there from the standing places at the back of the old theatre.
I often dreamed of working there - but never imagined that I might one
day be part of a team responsible for transforming it into the incredible
space which it has now become.
‘Whilst at school I had also watched the roof of the Swan Theatre rising
from the shell of the original Victorian theatre when it was redeveloped
in 1986, and even managed to see inside the space while it was still
a building site. I was lucky enough to be in the audience at the first
performance there - and then better still, to get my first job, wide-eyed
and fresh from theatre school, working for the Swan lighting team on the
season of Restoration plays in 1989/90.
‘So perhaps the strangest experience of all for me was walking into the
Swan when the Transformation work began, nearly 25 years after my
first visit, and finding it a building site once again - I’d never felt so old
before...!’
Gavin Owen, Senior Consultant
[email protected]
Gavin provided project management services for Charcoalblue on the RST
project. His particular emphasis in 2010 was ensuring that the newly installed
stage lighting, audiovisual and stage engineering systems in the building were
all fully compliant and running perfectly before opening night.
Gavin has a B.A (Hons) in Performance Management from Bretton Hall,
University of Leeds, and is an Associate member of the Association of British
Theatre Technicians, and a Professional member of the Association of Lighting
Designers.
Prior to joining Charcoalblue in 2005, Gavin gained twelve years experience as a
theatre practitioner, including four years as a member of lighting department at
the Royal Court Theatre, London; three years as Deputy Chief Electrician at the
Palace Theatre, Watford; and experience as a freelance technician and Lighting
Designer in London and theatres nationally.
Other consultancy work for Charcoalblue includes: The Quarterhouse,
Folkestone; Graeae Rehearsal Space, London; Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool;
Young Vic Theatre, London; Roundhouse, London; Carnival Arts Centre, Luton;
North Wall Theatre, St Edwards School, Oxford; RSC Courtyard Theatre,
Stratford-upon-Avon; The National Theatre Studio, London.
‘The build sequence for the audience galleries and the risers that make up the seating platforms was
extremely complex. To ensure nothing went wrong we had regular co-ordination sessions with MACE and
the construction firms. The main containment route that feeds the plethora of intricate facilities panels in
the auditorium runs at subfloor level, as does a lot of the air-con plant.
With an expensive hardwood floor to be laid on top we could not afford to get the order of the build wrong.
We decided, during a convoluted planning meeting, that the best solution would be to colour code each
stage of the build on every drawing – genius!
With all of the drawings of the auditorium laid out in front of us we systematically went through each and
every one marking up, in various coloured pens, what should happen and in what sequence.
After four hours of concentrated effort we had an incredibly detailed, colour coded, roadmap of the
auditorium fit up sequence. We congratulated ourselves on our excellent solution and proudly presented
the pile of drawings to the person leading the co-ordinated build – Steve. Obviously we expected him to be
delighted with such a comprehensive guide, however he looked at us with a bemused expression on his face
and said: “I’m really sorry guys, but that’s no good to me - I’m colour-blind!’
Sonya Flynn, Consultant
[email protected]
Sonya worked alongside Charcoalblue’s Design Director Gavin Green for many
months to ensure that the 1000 plus seats in the new Royal Shakespeare
Theatre were designed, manufactured, and installed correctly and on time. Each
seat was painstakingly tested and inspected prior to the public opening night.
Sonya has over nine years experience in architectural practice, including six
years as a qualified project architect. She has worked for a number of practices,
including Hawkins Brown; Foster and Partners; Artlab, and Henry J Lyons in
Dublin.
Sonya’s experience has been very varied, taking in many differently sized
projects, ranging from the small - The Workshop, a private house in Faversham
- to the large - Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, London. Current and
recent projects for Charcoalblue include the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Redevelopment, Stratford Upon Avon; Royal National Theatre, London; Al Ain
National Museum, Abu Dhabi; Newcastle Theatre Royal; The New Marlowe
Theatre, Canterbury.
Gregory Allan, Consultant
[email protected]
Gregory’s role on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre project included assisting in
the initial concepts and subsequent design of the stage engineering systems,
right through to helping to commission these on site in September 2010.
Gregory graduated from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow with a BEng
(Hons) in Product Design Engineering. Before joining Charcoalblue Gregory
worked for two years as an Electrical/Electronic and Manufacturing Design
Engineer for Caterpillar, specialising in component and control systems
engineering.
Other consultancy work for Charcoalblue includes Perth Theatre, Scotland;
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Corby Cube; a new performing arts centre in
Doncaster and UAL, Central St Martin’s, London.
Charcoalblue and who we are...
Our fresh approach to problem solving, innovative design techniques and
imaginative, warm and friendly attitude has seen Charcoalblue grow from four
founders in 2004, to over twenty full-time staff and ten associates in 2010.
Founded by industry-respected theatre practitioners and consultants Andy
Hayles, Gavin Green, Jon Stevens and Jack Tilbury, Charcoalblue was
established to take an alternative approach to venue design. Today the company
is the largest organisation of its kind working in Britain.
Throughout Charcoalblue’s life, the RSC has been a significant presence. As
the RST project has developed, so too has the company. Alongside this project,
Charcoalblue has worked on numerous other high profile venues including: The
Young Vic; The Roundhouse, Camden; The Royal National Theatre and English
National Opera.
Charcoalblue’s clients include subsidised arts organisations, local authorities,
educational bodies, property developers and the private sector, and the
company has designed a plethora of multifunction and gallery spaces including:
the Bluecoats Arts Centre in Liverpool, The Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield,
Nottingham Contemporary and the Quarterhouse, Folkestone along with
regionally-based arts organisations such as the Theatre Royal, Bath; Horsecross’
Perth Theatre, Scotland and a rehearsal space in Hackney for Graeae.
Charcoalblue’s work on the Young Vic, Newcastle Theatre Royal and the RSC’s
Courtyard Theatre won the company a plethora of influential awards and
enthusiastic reviews from the theatrical and architectural press.
Images - Queen Elizabeth Hall, Antwerp; Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; Ebert Room Redevelopment, Glyndebourne; Bristol
Old Vic Redevelopment; Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield; Hoffmann Building, Snape Maltings; Nottingham Contemporary; Core
Theatre, The Cube, Corby; North Wall Theatre, St Edward’s School, Oxford; New Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Theatre
Royal, Newcastle; Young Vic Theatre, London and National Theatre Future Project, London
Queen Elisabeth Hall
Antwerp
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dis re vera vel experaectate volorest
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por apicia endit, odigniassus repelit
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acculparum nulpa quod ut quidest
pa sim qui net fugit, repe corrum
sitatium qui ut etur, quiae et lati
dolorest volumqui dis re vera vel
experaectate volorest aperes volutes
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What Charcoalblue does...
Detailed design guidance on all aspects of theatre, performance and arts building projects - undertaking
anything from a concert hall to a community centre, a gallery to a multi-media centre.
Preparation of initial feasibility studies, assessing user needs and the aspirations of the wider community.
Detailed spatial design of a theatre auditorium or the technical fitting out of a stage.
Developing the correct functional relationships of a building, to the detailed design of all aspects of its
public, technical and service areas, as well of course, the auditorium itself.
Design of specialist systems and equipment and tailor them to client’s requirements including seating, stage
engineering, stage lighting and audiovisual systems.
In-depth knowledge of the most recent and relevant health and safety standards and accessibility
guidelines.
A wealth of experience and ability to adapt and make the most of existing buildings, as well as creating
entirely new ones.
Team members have extensive and recent experience of working in the theatre industry around the world.
Charcoalblue consultants are passionate about all types of performance and where possible continue to be
actively involved in theatre production.
Charcoalblue’s approach is based on collaboration and user-led projects that meet client needs. Their
consultants feel a strong commitment to theatricality and innovation, and take advantage of new techniques
and materials whenever appropriate.
Charcoalblue always goes that extra mile, combining a meticulous attention to detail with a firm
understanding of the bigger picture.