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Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea

Exudes huge energy and a sense of surprise, delight and humour at every corner

Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea.
Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea. Credit: Fred Howarth

London RIBA Regional Award 2019

 

Haworth Tompkins for Battersea Arts Centre
Contract value: £19.2m 
GIA: 5,625m² 
Cost per m²: £3,413

 

This is the culmination of a 12 year restoration project of the grade Il* listed building which was extended after a devastating fire. The brief and design process have taken inspiration from ‘scratch theatre’ pioneered at BAC, where ideas are tested out live and audience feedback used to evolve the performance. Areas such as the central courtyard, previously filled with lean-to structures, have been converted into an outdoor theatre. The stitching in of the new is expressed with white ceramic bricks in contrast to the existing red. In the Grand Hall, the burnt and scarred surfaces of exposed brick and plaster have been kept and contrasted with highly crafted insertions, including an open plywood lattice, referencing the memory of pattern from the old plaster mouldings in the barrel vault and with new technical infrastructure above. The building exudes huge energy and a sense of surprise, delight and humour at every corner.

Client of the Year

 

  • Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea.
    Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea. Credit: Fred Howarth
  • Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea.
    Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea. Credit: Haworth Tompkins
  • Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea.
    Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea. Credit: Haworth Tompkins
  • Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea.
    Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea. Credit: Philip Vile
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