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The Cut

alias The Old Vic Theatre Annex
history of the theatresupplementtechnical dataHistoric equipment

Important events

(detail)1958 | construction

(detail)2008 | alteration

People

Haworth Tompkins |architectural studio
Lyons, Israel and Ellis |architectural studio

History

Original Purpose: The Old Vic Theatre production workshops and paint shops

Date of construction: 1958

Style: brutalist architecture

Restructuring: Haworth Tompkins

Restructuring date: 2008

Current use: The National Theatre John Lyon Education Studio

 

Construction in 1958 of the Old Vic scene shops was designed by architect Lyons Israel Ellis as the first building in England to serve this particular purpose, as part of extending the neighbouring Old Vic theatrebuilding (close to the Waterloo railway station). According to the design it was built of poured concrete with brick filling and served its purpose for only a short time. It hosted paint shops, scenic shops and costume shops that moved in 1976 to the newly erected building of The National Theatre. The windowless upper part of the façade along the street is meant to indicate that the building has large, high-level paint shops on upper floors. These spaces are all lit from above and have no windows or openings. Thus, the upper part of the façade projects a peculiar impression – robust and blind. The said spaces were used for painting of flats that were attached to moveable metal frames. When the workshops moved out, the Lyons Israel Ellis building lost its purpose. In 2005 it was Grade II listed as an exemplary brutalist building. In compliance with the NT Future vision The National Theatre decided to convert the building to a house of studios, despite acoustic and thermoinsulatory deficiencies and poor condition of construction concretes.

 

The tender for reconstruction was won by architects of the Haworth Tompkins studio, founded in 1991 by architects Graham Haworth (1960) and Steve Tompkins (1959). In 2007 the workshops were converted to a learning centre, theatrical studios and an archive open to the public. Initially the architects wanted to leave the building in its raw condition but in the end they had to replace around 50 per cent of the damaged concrete construction by a new one. One of the original walls, soaked with paint and glue, was left in place as a reminder of former workshops. The building’s new technical infrastructure has been based upon an industrial concept (as concerns heating, lighting, ventilation).

 

The building currently houses an archive (open to the public), a learning centre, rehearsal stages and private study rooms for script writers. The envisaged goal was to transform the premises into an incubator in which to develop new ideas; into spaces where writers, theatre directors and other theatrical practitioners can test out their ideas directly on the spot. Signs outside the building invite people to visit. The building is home to the NT archive that has moved over here from Victorian depots in Brixton, as well as to the first permanent theatre education space – The National Theatre John Lyon Education Studio.


 

 

 

Author: Marcela Steinbachová

Translator: Jiří Pilucha

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