CONSERVING A PIONEERING REGENCY BUILDING TO DELIVER A WORLD CLASS ARTS VENUE
Set in historic Regency gardens and adjoining the famous Royal Pavilion, Brighton’s Grade 1 listed Corn Exchange and Grade 2 listed Studio Theatre has been refurbished for a 21st century audience.
Working with theatre experts and skilled craftspeople, the project makes major technical and operational improvements to the Corn Exchange and to the Studio Theatre, including a brand new foyer space and café and better accessibility for performers and artists, whilst essential conservation work peels back the layers to restore hidden spaces and reveal them to the public.
Brighton Dome is the South Coast's leading arts venue and remodelling its buildings will give it much-needed flexibility in terms of layout, seating and infrastructure – allowing a wider range of artists and performers to come to Brighton. Anita's Room - is a creative space for community groups and emerging artists to use for workshops, meetings and rehearsals.
This work will allow Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival to continue to contribute to making the city and the county we live in a world-class destination for people everywhere.
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival
TRADITIONAL CRAFTS TO TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE
Originally built as a stable block for the Prince Regent, the 200-year-old, Grade I Listed building has served as a Victorian skating rink, a WW1 military hospital and is now a leading performing arts venue.
Pioneering for its time, the building has the longest-single-span timber-frame in the country. The original timber roof structure has been revealed and the original character of the building restored. Windows along the west side have been opened up, and their original decorative timber linings reinstated using specialist craft skills and workmanship that conserve the character of the remarkable 1806 interior.
Where necessary, the timber linings to the walls and dormer roof arches have been repaired, using a total of 6500 linear metres of sustainable European oak cladding.
Enabling more art for Brighton audiences
Brighton Dome’s remodelled buildings will give it much-needed flexibility in terms of layout, seating, infrastructure and accessibility – allowing a wider range of artists and performers to come to Brighton.
The better equipped Corn Exchange can now host a diverse range of uses, from dance and music performances to banqueting, exhibitions, meetings, graduation ceremonies and celebrations. New interventions include new sub-floor storage, suspended rigging, a new north-end balcony which conceals a 232 seat retractable bleacher seating unit and an entirely new ventilation system using heat-exchange technology that optimises the re-use of energy within the venue.
A Studio Theatre
The Studio Theatre is housed in a Grade II Listed, 1930s former supper room, that hosts 225 seats for more intimate performances, spoken word and rehearsals.
The theatre has been renovated and replanned to improve capacity in a more flexible arrangement, with the addition of side balconies. A new lift and escape stair enable the Theatre to have its own accessible foyer space with views through the windows of the Corn Exchange. New dressing rooms and technical infrastructure dramatically improve the usability of the facility.
New facilities serve the back of house spaces of all three of the venues. They are connected below ground with access routes that serve the venues and shared storage space