Construction has begun for a performing arts centre designed by Studio Seilern Architects (SSA) at Wellington College in Berkshire, England. Expected to open in September 2017, the 1400-seat performance space and multi-disciplinary foyer will be built as an extension to the existing theatre building.
The co-educational private school required space for its weekly assemblies and general performances. SSA proposed a circular auditorium with tiered balcony seating and a parterre level, which will spread the audience around the stage providing the required capacity, yet also a sense of intimacy for smaller audiences.
Acoustics were carefully considered due to the circular shape of the auditorium. The concave geometric shape of the perimeter wall and lacquered plywood reflectors help to spread sound evenly, while also serving as design features within the otherwise red-hued auditorium.
The design, which won the World Architecture Festival’s Future Educational Project award last year, appears to float in its sylvan surroundings and is a short walk from the main school campus. The architects created a sense of lightness that belies its 2,580 sq m size by burying half of the structure into the land.
The soft, dusky colour of the wood cladding is a product of charring, using a Japanese method known as shou sugi ban, or the ‘burnt cedar effect’, which provides a natural surface treatment. The colour combined with the vertical paneling blend with the backdrop of the forest.
Clever use of glass allows an appreciation of the outdoor environment from inside the structure. Audiences accessing the balcony seats from the parterre level will traverse a walkway with an external soaring glass wall, opening up to views of the landscape outside.
The architects designed a glass foyer between the auditorium and the existing building, providing a further informal space for exhibitions and talks. Come this time next year, the Wellington College Performing Arts Centre will transform the site into a new creative complex for Wellington College.
The auditorium is designed to seat 1400 people, yet the circular structure also allows smaller audiences to feel a sense of intimacy
The glass foyer features a stepped seating area encouraging students to socialise and interact
Windows look out into the green surroundings, where abstract paths and social areas have been landscaped into the design
The project won the World Architecture Festival’s Future Educational Project award in 2015
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Studio Seilern Architects website
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Casa Sanlorenzo debuts in Venice as a new hub for contemporary artThe luxury yachting leader unveils a stunning new space in a palazzo restored by Piero Lissoni – where art, innovation, and sustainability come together
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilionLego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
Inside Abbey Road's refresh: touring the legendary studio's new interiorAbbey Road gets an interior refresh by Threefold Architects, bringing the legendary London recording studio in tune with the 21st century
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum
-
A meticulously crafted artist’s space in east London evokes the area’s long creative historyMaich Swift Architects’ artist’s space has radically reconfigured a Victorian terraced house, transforming it into a contemporary live/work interior
-
Welcome to Omved Gardens, north London’s hidden green oasisThis secret space in Highgate is relaunching as a vibrant community hub with new spaces, activities and exhibitions
-
This contemporary cabin cantilevers over a Scottish lochRock Cove, Cameron Webster Architects’ contemporary cabin in Argyll, Scotland, makes the most of its wild setting
-
What to see at the London Festival of Architecture 2025June is all about the London Festival of Architecture 2025; we browsed the over 450-event rich programme for its highlights, so you won't have to
