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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. ‘NT Future’ masterplan for the National Theatre in London, England by HAWORTH TOMPKINSJuly 5th, 2016 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: HAWORTH TOMPKINS Haworth Tompkins announces the completion of NT Future, an £80m refurbishment of the National Theatre on London’s South Bank. Opened in 1976, the NT is one of Britain’s most important 20th century buildings, and arguably the masterpiece of architect Sir Denys Lasdun. NT Future equips the National Theatre to sustain its position at the forefront of theatre, while regenerating the building to address a radically changed urban context.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile
 Image Courtesy © Philip Vile The National Theatre was designed to be welcoming, and openness lies at the core of NT Future. Audiences will benefit from the Dorfman Theatre (formerly the Cottesloe). Learning groups of all ages will be received in the new Clore Learning Centre. Foyers have been refreshed, and extended with an NT-run riverside café and bar, while landscape has been regenerated around the site. Meanwhile, the backstage workshops – perhaps the biggest factory left in central London – will offer a new engagement with the public both through greater visibility from the street and an internal public viewing gallery. Since Lasdun’s building was completed, the public river walk has been extended, Waterloo has been regenerated, and the South Bank has become a new centre for London. NT Future embeds the National Theatre at the heart of this transformation.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile NT Future has had a long development. Haworth Tompkins was appointed in 2007 to write a Conservation Management Plan for the building, in collaboration with the London Borough of Lambeth, English Heritage and the Twentieth Century Society. This approach created detailed understanding of Lasdun’s architecture as a foundation for the NT Future proposals. The resulting changes include a new production building, the Max Rayne Centre, to the south of the NT; reconfiguration of the Cottesloe Theatre to create the new Dorfman Theatre and Clore Learning Centre; opening up of the north-east corner, formerly a service yard, to address the river walk with a new riverside bar and café; remodelling of the main entrance; transformation of landscape and terraces; and refurbishment of the foyers. NT Future gives the National Theatre new spaces for education, design, digital production, and workshop assembly. Sustainability, based on work by environmentalists Atelier Ten, will be greatly strengthened. Public attitudes to Twentieth Century architecture are changing fast. NT Future aims to make Lasdun’s greatest building accessible to a new generation, while enabling the NT to develop their role at the forefront of world theatre.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile The scheme’s lynch-pin is the Max Rayne Centre, a new production building to the south of the NT that houses a state-of-the-art painting workshop, production offices, and a studio for designers, as well as departments relocated to enable change elsewhere in the building. Clad in aluminium fins and crumpled steel mesh, the Max Rayne Centre is designed to complement rather than replicate the NT’s masonry language, harmonising with Lasdun’s austere orthogonal forms. Its west-facing balconies enable the NT to address Waterloo Bridge and Upper Ground, while a glazed facade to the east opens up the painting workshop to passers-by.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile The Dorfman Theatre, named after a signature gift from Lloyd Dorfman, founder of Travelex and a long-term NT supporter, maintains the Cottesloe’s spirit while enhancing seating, capacity and stage equipment. Carried out in collaboration with theatre consultants Charcoalblue, the changes will offer a better experience for audiences, and more flexibility for practitioners. The Dorfman will also be available for education use during the day, in conjunction with the Clore Learning Centre, whose education facilities have been converted from former workshops. The Dorfman Theatre foyer has been reconfigured for all-day opening, with access to the public Sherling High Level Walkway that allows visitors to see into the newly-refurbished workshops.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile The NT’s north-east corner, formerly a service yard facing the river, has been converted to public use with the creation of The Understudy, a new bar, Kitchen, a relocated café, and a new external entrance to House, the NT’s refurbished restaurant. All catering spaces will be run by the NT itself. They will activate a part of the river frontage that was formerly back of house, enliven the river walk, and offer a new welcome to visitors arriving from the east.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile The National Theatre’s main entrance, much changed in the 1990s, has been remodelled to improve the connection with the river walk, aid wayfinding, particularly from the eastern approach, and restore the original 45-degree axial entry to the building. The riverside bookshop has been relocated to create life at the heart of the foyers. The main foyers have themselves been refurbished, with signage based on the original design, restored joinery and finishes, and a more transient layer of furniture and lighting to reflect the National Theatre’s own warmth and openness.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile All around the building, landscape has been redesigned in collaboration with Edinburgh-based landscape architects Gross.Max to provide a more consistent setting for the NT. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Terrace has been planted as a garden for the use of local residents as well as audiences. Signage, lighting and furniture have all been transformed.  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile  Image Courtesy © Philip Vile A project as complex as NT Future has required Haworth Tompkins to develop a range of different architectural responses, from best-practice conservation of concrete (researched with the help of the Twentieth Century Society), through keyhole surgery to improve functionality and adjacencies, to development of an architectural language for new work both sensitive enough to respect Lasdun’s building, and robust enough to stand alongside it. These changes have been carried out within an intellectual framework that safeguards the NT’s precious primary fabric, while finding room for the NT’s own dynamism and freshness to be reflected in its public spaces. Haworth Tompkins Haworth Tompkins is a British architectural studio, voted UK Architect of the Year and RIBA London Architect of the Year in 2014. Founded in 1991 by Graham Haworth and Steve Tompkins, the studio has an international reputation for theatre design, the Liverpool Everyman Theatre winning the 2014 RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year by a UK architect. Haworth Tompkins was part of the Gold Award UK winning team at the Prague Quadrennial and was chosen to exhibit theatre work at the 2012 Venice Biennale. Acclaimed performance projects include the Royal Court, the Almeida temporary theatres at Kings Cross and Gainsborough Studios, Snape Maltings, the Young Vic Theatre (shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007), and The Shed, a temporary theatre to serve the NT during NT Future.  Image Courtesy © HAWORTH TOMPKINS National Theatre Future The National opened its doors on the South Bank in 1976. Since then there have been significant changes to the way theatre is made, shared and experienced. NT Future transforms the facilities the National offers audiences and artists, enhances its relationship with the environment around it and places education firmly at the heart of its mission. To date, £79m has been raised towards the £80m target, thanks to the generosity of the Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, individuals, trusts and foundations, and the National’s own earnings from War Horse, as well as an audience appeal.  Image Courtesy © HAWORTH TOMPKINS  Image Courtesy © HAWORTH TOMPKINS  Image Courtesy © HAWORTH TOMPKINS  Image Courtesy © HAWORTH TOMPKINS
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Categories: Renovation, Theater |
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