roofing & cladding
Blue copper skyline
Winner of the RIBA London Building of the Year 2018, Ian Ritchie Architects’ project for the Royal Academy of Music is defined by its blue pre-patinated copper roofline.
THE project is hidden behind the listed façade of the Royal Academy of Music’s Edwardian premises, surrounded by Grade I and Grade II listed buildings and located within the Regent’s Park conservation area. Within this particularly challenging location two distinct performance spaces have been designed by Ian Ritchie Architects. Seamlessly integrated within the historic site, the project is expressed by facades and roofs clad in Nordic Blue Living 1 pre- patinated copper from Aurubis.
natural patinas Nordic Blue is a factory-applied patina developed with properties and colours based on the same brochantite mineralogy found
in natural patinas all over the world. In marine climates, the natural copper patina contains some copper chloride giving it a blue-green colour, emulated with Nordic Blue. As well as the solid patina colours, other intensities of patina flecks revealing some of the dark oxidised background material create ‘living’ surfaces. “I grew up in Brighton and have always
been fond of the copper roofs there, naturally patinated a turquoise blue by the sea air. Our interest in Nordic Blue copper goes back to 2004 and instigated research and development carried out by its manufacturers for a previous project. For the Royal Academy of Music project, Nordic Blue Living 1 provides just the right hue which will continue to develop naturally over time,” says Ian Ritchie. Despite the complexities of the
constrained site into which the myriad of functions of a modern opera and musical theatre were to be introduced, the copper- clad project was unanimously granted planning permission and listed building consent at the first submission, fully supported by all officers, English Heritage and the St Marylebone Society. Copper is particularly adaptable as a long-life, durable, maintenance-free covering for facades, roofs and the complex architectural forms often associated with leisure buildings.
outstanding spaces Designed for both opera and musical theatre productions, The Susie Sainsbury Theatre sits at the heart of the Academy. Within the old concrete walls, the Theatre incorporates 40 per cent more seating than previously through the addition of a balcony, as well as a larger orchestra pit, a stage wing and a fly tower. Above the Theatre, and acoustically isolated from all other buildings, the new 100-seat Recital Hall provides a further 230sq m of space. Creating a visual and physical link
between the old and new buildings is the Recital Hall’s new glazed lobby, which is primarily accessed from the main stairway and also by a glazed lift. The new light wells reveal the previously concealed Grade II rear façade, in which bricked-up windows have been reopened. Both of these beautifully finished, acoustically diverse spaces can be accessed independently and complete a suite of facilities for the Academy’s ambitious student body and world-class teaching staff and for public performances.
www.nordiccopper.com
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