Project & Plans
The Theatre Royal Complex is a unique asset and a key component of the theatre landscape in the region, and was Grade I listed in 2000. The Theatre Royal occupies a singular position in theatre history, and its design makes it a magnet for performers, who will be key in driving the future business.
However, the development of the Complex which took place in 1970 no longer delivers the infrastructure required for artistic and financial health in the 21st century. We believe the redevelopment project will provide a Complex with greater flexibility, which will enable a broader range of activity, with stronger artistic and financial outputs. This exciting project is designed to deliver the infrastructural needs of a producing theatre reinvented as an engine-house of live performance and origination.
Though planning permission has been granted for a refurbishment scheme, a review of these plans which began in April 2008 determined that the Company required more fundamental changes to the Complex. LCE andrzej blonski Architects and the project team have spent the past nine months preparing new designs, and an application will be re-submitted in September 2009.
The redevelopment will provide up to 10 spaces which can be used for performance, rehearsal, training, commercial use, and creative professional development. There will be greatly extended public spaces and improved access to all the Complex’s facilities, complying with DDA regulations. These include:
- Complete refurbishment of the Georgian Theatre Royal, built 1766
- Complete refurbishment of the Studio Theatre, built 1970
- Re-invention of the Paintshop as a flexible performance space
- Creation of a new Heritage Resource Centre
- Establishment of a dedicated Education Centre
- Construction of a Professional Development Centre for the performing arts
- Expansion of current rehearsal spaces
- Extension of the foyer, café bar and function facilities
- Extensive remodelling of the existing technical and administrative facilities
- The redevelopment plans will incorporate energy-saving and environmental solutions wherever possible.
Production Facilities
Bristol Old Vic has always been primarily a producing theatre, and will continue to be a significant stakeholder in the majority of productions staged within the Complex and beyond, whether these are in-house productions, touring co-productions, dance theatre, work from new writers or performers, or education projects. The diverse nature of the work produced by this business model means the redeveloped Complex will need to be highly adaptable, and plans for the project are being shaped accordingly.
The Theatre Royal will be refurbished with staging flexibility in mind, so that the audience/actor relationship can adapt to meet the needs of a specific show, while keeping the space fresh and surprising. The designs for the auditorium will recapture the original ‘thrust’ staging, while introducing the capability for different stage configurations. The intimacy of the auditorium will be improved by reconfiguring and replacing the current seating, providing greater comfort and better sightlines for the audience, though this will inevitably reduce the overall seating capacity.
Flexibility will be a theme throughout, allowing all of the spaces to be busy hosting theatre-making by Bristol Old Vic and the Young Company, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, local community groups, and a host of regional, national and international theatre companies. The performance programme will feature events taking place across many spaces, scales and times of day. On any given day there will be more than 50 artists developing, making and performing works. The Complex will be the vibrant hub of live performance culture, with young people, local people, developing artists and established professionals working alongside each other, learning and sharing together.
Public Spaces
The redeveloped Complex will be much more accessible to the public. Open seven days a week from morning through to late night, the facilities will be expanded and upgraded to include a modern, friendly café bar. In the front-of-house areas, we will maximise the digital potential by incorporating wireless internet access, digital screens, and projections which can be used for promoting in-house productions and services.
The creation of modern, dedicated function spaces (with digital facilities) will allow us to cater for corporate clients by hosting meetings, conferences, and hospitality events. Corporate clients will also have the opportunity to work with theatre practitioners, in professional rehearsal spaces, on a range of workshops and practical sessions. The range of function spaces will also open the Complex to other revenue streams such as hosting weddings, event dinners and large-scale corporate networking and awards occasions.
Heritage Resource Centre
The history of the Theatre Royal, when combined with the theatre’s ongoing activity, provides a unique resource on which to build an engaging visitor experience that articulates the changing role of theatre in contemporary society. The documented history provides a valuable archive of academic research value, and a platform for educational materials for schools and colleges.
Bristol Old Vic will offer an educational and visitor resource accessible to all. The Complex will be the location for the multi-media resource which charts the dramatic life of the theatre, the numerous producing companies (most recently Bristol Old Vic), and its social setting in King Street and Bristol. The narrative will include the role of theatre in society over the past 250 years, and specifically the role that the Theatre Royal has played in Bristol, looking at how theatre responds to and reflects issues that inform identity, context and social dynamic. Digital technology will be exploited to create interactive elements where visitors can discover what the theatre was like in Georgian and Victorian times, as well as in more recent decades.
There will also be tours of the Complex, allowing people to see the splendour of the Theatre Royal, the oldest continuously working theatre in the UK, and the original roof space, which accommodates the ‘Thunder Run’ – an early sound effect, consisting of a wooden channel down which cannon balls were rolled to produce a thunderous sound for the audience below. In addition, they will have the opportunity to go backstage, observe rehearsals in progress, and see how the theatre operates today.
Open to the public seven days a week, the living heritage centre will be a world-class visitor destination, not just because of the richness of its history, but because of its integration with a living, working theatre company. We will be able to generate new content by recording performances, with added contributions from artists, technicians and audiences.
Online resources will include the ability to watch performances streamed over the internet, a virtual tour of the redeveloped Complex, and a wide collection of information and images from our archive, including recordings and contributions from former performers, directors and staff, currently being collected to form a ‘living archive.’
The Scope of the work
The capital project will have four inter-related elements:
Repair works – to be completed by June 2009
- Essential repair to the external fabric of the building to prevent decay
- Removal of asbestos to allow all services and duct ways to be fully surveyed
- Essential works to the mechanical and electrical installation to maintain safety and enable the subsequent works
- Full design of re-development to RIBA Stage E in preparation for tender
Remodelling and refurbishment of the existing building
- Theatre Royal – seating, air handling, technical facilities, staging, conservation
- Studio auditorium – seating, air handling, technical facilities
- Paint shop – new making and performance space
- Coopers’ Hall Basement – performance space and access
- Front of House – new box office, café, garden, access lifts and refitted public toilets
- Backstage Facilities – Refurbished rehearsal rooms and remodelled technical and administrative facilities
- Renewal of mechanical and electrical installations throughout
- Re-decorating throughout
Extension to accommodate Professional Development Centre
- Two new floors – studios, rehearsal space and offices – constructed above the existing technical block, adjacent to the fly-tower
Extension to further improve front of house facilities
- Remodel Studio façade on King Street
- Add one new floor above former offices for flexible function space
- Extend existing Macready function room to create a Heritage Resource Centre adjacent to Theatre Royal roof space which houses the theatre’s very early sound-effect known as the ‘Thunder Run’
- Covered access to Coopers Loft which becomes a rehearsal space
- Create a new performance space in King Street as part of the remodelling of the street. There are plans to partially pedestrianise King Street through a partnership with business developers