News and Events
Graeae Theatre Company
9th Oct 2010
The Graeae Theatre Company development gave no ground whatsoever to much larger shortlisted projects in providing what is fair to describe as a joyous and quality office space and headquarters facilities for this national arts group. Graeae is a disabled-led theatre company that profiles the skills of actors, writers and directors with physical and sensory impairments.
The team have taken a historic tram shed, in Hackney in East London, and turned it into a vibrant, colourful and successful workplace that is built around the specific needs of the vast range of users. It is a functional facility that celebrates the diverse mix of artists, staff and visitors who now enjoy the building.
The volume of the original structure has been optimised, with M&E housed in redundant roof space and a new mezzanine offering both expansion and revenue space. The need to support people with a diversity of disabilities has been achieved through exemplary material choice, specifications and design. The highly innovative use of colour, light, management of sound and even scented planting provides a new benchmark for accessibility.
The team of the Graeae Theatre Company, Artillery Architecture and Interior Design, and Paragon have worked together to push the boundaries of sustainability through recycling, energy saving, sourcing local fittings and furniture and even distributing 90% of the used items for re-use following the office move from Graeae�s previous address.
As the UK�s leading disabled-led theatre company, the Graeae building is immediately welcoming and highly accessible. The flooring is tactile and the heating and lighting systems are user sensitive; there are quality acoustics, the work surfaces are all adaptable and even the WCs are stylish. Bradbury Studios is colourful, light, innovative and welcoming.
The pride and enthusiasm for the building that is exuberated by the workforce and reciprocated by its visitors is immediately obvious and impressive. This testimony from the staff in their workplace defines the success of the project. As the theatre company itself concludes: �The building is an antidote to the idea that disability somehow deserves spaces that are grey, dull and utilitarian.�
http://www.bcoawards.org.uk/winners/2010/smallprojects/#Graeae
