in detail
THE LYRIC Theatre has long been considered the National Theatre of Northern Ireland, and is also the main full- time producing theatre in Belfast. Originally opened in 1968, the 350-seat Lyric was the home of the Lyric Players, founded in 1951 by Mary and Pearse O’Malley, and was a much loved venue. In recent years, however, it was obvious that the facilities of the Lyric were becoming stretched to the limit as well as being out of date. A £14m fundraising campaign started in
2004 to expand the site and replace the Lyric. The old building was demolished in 2008, but its name continued as a touring theatre company while its new home was under construction. Architects O’Donnell & Tuomey were appointed along with theatre consultants Theatreplan, whose team took the role of technical user from the initial design concept and throughout the project. Built in a blend of Belfast brick, glass
Belfast’s £18m Lyric Theatre combines the ‘epic and the intimate’ to create a new social hub for the city.
and steel, the new theatre features spacious lobbies and bars overlooking the river. Almost three times the size of the old theatre, the new building is 1773sq m or 19,084 sq ft and has three distinct areas: the 390-seat auditorium main performance
area, providing an extra 90 seats in a single steep rake; a second performance studio accommodating between 110 and 150 people and a rehearsal room the same size as the main auditorium stage. Other facilities include an education suite, rehearsal space, green room, dressing rooms, board room, back stage facilities, box office and a cafe/bar. The design team faced many challenges,
not least of which was the location; the site is in a residential area with building height restrictions. The old theatre had no grid or flying space, and it was important for this to be addressed in the new building. Architect John Tuomey didn’t want the new Lyric Theatre to have a flat roof, and designed a V-shaped construction to provide the internal spatial requirements while addressing the external height restrictions. In order to maximise the flying space above the stage, Theatreplan designed an unusual grid structure that ran beneath the low point of the ‘V’ across the downstage area, and then stepped up to full height towards the rear. The grid, which was manufactured locally
by Metaltech Engineering, is integrated with the roof support truss and was a
Curtain’s up
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bflmagazine.co.uk
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