Pup Architects design temporary outdoors stage in Charleston

Colourful Charleston outdoor stage with seating arrangement

(Image credit: Jim Stephenson)

Pup Architects has designed a colourful, all-timber outdoors stage in the leafy British countryside for the Charleston Trust. The project, located in Sussex, UK and just revealed, has been conceived as a temporary stage to host a season of talks and events for the Trust, from now until September. Named The Yard, this design was inspired by the region's vernacular architecture and specifically, barn roof structures.

‘The structure is imagined as half of a barn roof opening up to the audience, whilst the colours of the roof are inspired by the painted interiors of Charleston house itself,' say the architects. ‘Like the house, the stage reflects a sense of exuberance and vibrancy, intended to welcome people back from the winter's lockdown.'

Charleston outdoors stage as seen from above, through aerial view showing the seating and stage arrangement

The stage was built by Pup Architects themselves and constructed in just five days by a small team. While the structure draws on the local typologies and the colours are referencing those inside Charleston, when set against the green countryside, they make the stage stand out. Its positioning and location were also very carefully considered, so that it sits comfortably in its context, while also acting as a ‘colourful billboard', advertising the activity on site.

Remaining true to its commitment to environmentally friendly architecture, Pup Architects only used sustainably sourced solid timber for their design. The wood is fully biodegradable and if required in the future, the whole structure can be deconstructed, re-constructed, or be 100% recycled. The paint used is equaly eco-driven, provided by paint supplier Colour Makes People Happy from Lewes, who promotes natural and eco-friendly product.

The Charleton Outdoors Stage is set to provide a riveting programme, with speakers including Selena Godden, Sebastian Faulks, Shirley Collins, Jeremy Deller, John Cooper Clarke, Stewart Lee, Calab Azumah Nelson, Helena Bonham Carter and many more.

Charleston outdoors stage as seen in green rural setting with cows on view

Pastoral view through pebble path looking towards temporary timber stage in Charleston

detail of the timber structure of the temporary charleston stage

INFORMATION

puparchitects.com

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).

With contributions from

Jim Stephenson - Photography