bring to a project. We call it a “stick of rock” design: you can cut into what we do anywhere, from tiny surface to large scale, and hopefully see the ethos of an organic and integrated set of values. You see that it’s got soul.’ As for Bennetts Associates, Alastair Bogle,


lead architect, says: ‘Some architects are about control freakery. Not us. If we feel other people can help us realise the objectives, we bring them in. We would never have arrived at this richness of interiors, but working together, we got there quickly.’


Bennetts and engineers Max Fordham had


some serious challenges of their own to resolve, not least transforming a single-storey theatre with 400 bleacher seats into a high-quality auditorium with shallow-raked, fixed seating and wraparound balcony, for 550. Te new


There is a pleasurable tactility to the materials, with exposed brick or painted walls, wooden floors, and concertinaed, painted wall panelling


theatre has glamour, but also intimacy, with its dusky blue, upholstered seats, and chocolate- toned walls. As Bogle says: ‘It feels like a proper theatre.’ More importantly, ‘having seating for 550 puts you on a different level in terms of attracting theatre companies’. Bigger names (for


theatre, music and comedy) will bring bigger audiences and hopefully more income. Everywhere you look, colour and texture


are working hard to communicate added value. Each cinema has its own colour scheme, with bespoke seating that offers proper support for necks, and plenty of legroom (in line with other boutique cinema chains). Also, Marks points out that the expensive-looking wall finishes in the main theatre are in fact cheap plywood panels, stained in a dark varnish. Marks points out that ‘nice little surprises’ don’t have to cost more, but can add hugely to the appeal – for example, painting the interiors of the ground floor toilet stalls a vivid, golden yellow. As she says: ‘Te buildings that last longest last because they are loved.’


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