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Right The main theatre now has 150 extra seats (maximum seating 550) without losing any sense of intimacy
Far right Bennetts Associates retained 30% of the structure, comprising its roof, fly tower and hexagonal theatre shell
Below right Bennett’s conceived this central space as a ’town square’ from which all the different facilities pivot
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
When planning a cultural hub in a regional town, the scale of facilities makes a huge difference to viability. But the atmosphere and welcome are what wins hearts and minds. Veronica Simpson beams to Hertford’s new multi-purpose venue
IT’S A FUNNY THING when a county town – Hertford – is smaller than several of its neighbours. Hertfordshire’s namesake has a population of 26,000 against Watford’s 131,000, with Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and St Albans well over 70,000 apiece. But it has certain historic and pastoral
charms, as well as a thriving high street and market. And now it has a cultural hub that can easily rival those of its bigger neighbours, in the BEAM theatre and cinema, newly transformed by Bennetts Associates, along with Citizens Design Bureau (CDB). Tis ambitious civic project, funded by
Herts East County Council, is not only a rarity in these times of crippling local authority budget cuts, but it seems to have been conceived and executed with a rare vision and commitment to quality, allowing both the architecture practices involved – and their engineers, Max Fordham – to deliver something exceptional. Te council’s own realisation – that culture
is a vital contributor to local prosperity and well-being – was crucial, leading it to commit £30m to the project of upgrading an existing theatre to create a substantially larger facility. Tere are also three cinemas (where before the town had none), a smaller multi-purpose studio theatre (completing in 2025), and an all- day café and bar, along with bookable event spaces/studios.
Bennetts Associates won the competition
to improve and expand the original building, and has managed to retain 30% of the structure, comprising its roof, fly tower and the hexagonal shell of the theatre as well as its backstage areas. Te public frontage of the building has been completely reconceived with
three cinemas wrapping around the core. Te bulk of these extra facilities is minimised by the careful faceting of the brick-clad façade, and the pitching of individual cinema roofs as they hug the core. Te original zinc-clad flytower anchors the composition. Walking into BEAM there is a strong sense
of arrival, thanks to the entrance corridor, which funnels visitors towards the double- height, toplit, triangular courtyard at the building’s centre. Bennetts conceived this central space as a town square, lined in a similar brick to that used outside, with many of the activities on offer immediately visible. Te two theatres are accessed to the left. Slimline, digital podiums where you can book cinema or theatre tickets are straight ahead (avoiding the need for a space-hungry reception/ticket desk). Two distinctive ground floor café and bar spaces are visible to the right, both flooded with daylight thanks to huge windows overlooking the river that runs alongside (and even under) the building. A staircase leads the eye up to the first floor, where the cinemas sit, with another open-plan bar also overlooking the river and greenery. Unmanned during the day, this tranquil social space is designed to be equally appealing to retreating teenagers, parents catching up with emails while their kids dance across the sprung floor of the adjacent dance studio, or (as observed on the morning we visit), laptop-users wanting time away from the kiddy hubbub below – at 11am the ground floor is full of parents and babies, their buggies stowed in the spacious alcove beneath the staircase. CDB has amplified this sense of discrete
and characterful social spaces with its use of colour – the ratio of different colours gently
modulating with each space. Te palette of burgundy, teal, green, and a striking sunshine yellow, has been chosen to complement the surrounding greenery. Tere is a pleasurable tactility to the materials, with exposed brick or painted walls, wooden floors, and concertinaed, painted wall panelling that echoes the serrated, bespoke acoustic ceiling panels. CDB director Katy Marks says: ‘If people go into a building and feel the spaces have a clear identity they find ways to use them, rather than have the uses be assigned.’ What did this partnership between the
two architecture practices bring? Says Marks: ‘Bennetts is a large practice. Known for theatre work, but [they are] also more slick, or corporate, in their aesthetic and approach. Tere was a complementary aspect to what we
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