February 2011 - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon, UK

Redefining historical cultural spaces requires a certain set of skills: vision, perception and a delicate touch. The team have succeeded in delivering a bold, visually rich, technically complex building in a significant historic location for a high profile cultural client on time and on budget.

The redevelopment of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre included the creation of a 1,030 seat auditorium with a thrust stage, the largest of its kind in the world, transforming the relationship that the audience has with the actors. To bring a greater immediacy and clarity to the performances, the distance from the furthest seats to the stage has been reduced from 27 to 15 metres. The new stage returns to the concept of the actors and audience sharing one space, as Shakespeare originally intended for his plays.

The new theatre embraces RST’s history, with the restoration of the original 1930s façade and the reuse of approximately 5000 bricks. The RST shows its relevance to future generations in both its new facilities and its commitment to reducing the carbon footprint – our understanding of how energy is used in a theatre building allowed us to incorporate features that have achieved a 20% carbon reduction and an expected BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.

At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, we used our creativity to enable the audience to experience the creativity of others.

Look out for the opening of the new Marlowe Theatre in summer this year!