Chichester Festival Theatre, 2014

This project is a major restoration and renewal of the Grade II* listed Chichester Festival Theatre, incorporating a carefully remodelled auditorium, bigger foyer spaces, an improved parkland setting and a new back of house extension. Originally designed as a ‘pavilion in the park’ summer festival venue by the distinguished architects Powell and Moya, the innovative open stage auditorium was inspired by Tyrone Guthrie’s Festival Theatre in Stratford Ontario and was the UK’s first thrust stage performance space, seating over 1300 people. The theatre’s dramatic, cantilevering concrete structure and lightweight cable-tied roof remain bold architectural statements, but piecemeal alterations since the 1970s had gradually reduced the clarity of the original architecture. Haworth Tompkins’ approach has been to clear away all the non-original structures, enlarge the foyer with two new extensions and re-house the back of house facilities within a new structure, complementing Powell and Moya’s rough concrete with an equally dramatic facade of Cor-Ten weathering steel. Regular collaborating artist Antoni Malinowski hand-painted the café ceilings and various walls within the foyer to complement the geometries of the existing structure and amplify the presence of the surrounding landscape. The auditorium has been significantly remodelled to improve sightlines, increase theatrical intensity and provide a far more technically sophisticated and adaptable environment for theatre makers.

“The great thing about the superbly renovated Chichester Festival Theatre is that it simply seems like a better version of its former self.” The Telegraph