Completed: Sept 2018
Value: £21m
New build part 3, part 4 and part 5 storey Academy, including a teaching block, a theatre block, dance studios, dressing rooms, singing rooms, radio and TV studios, commercial/retail space, together with associated service yard and services infrastructure, public realm and drainage works. Emphasis on acoustic separation & containment for future fit-out.
Extensive redesign took place during the works, in particular, changes due to the Grenfell disaster, where we had to redesign the façade replacing the scorched larch with perforated corten steel.
We redesigned the teaching block and changed it from a beam and column frame to a concrete wall to punch openings and give height in the dance studios with no projecting columns.
Piling and foundations value engineered out for soil stabilization and raft alternative.
Teaching Block (East Block – 3 storey, West Block – 4 storey)
Insitu concrete frame with pre-stressed units spanning between 240ml thick concrete wall. The pre-stressed units range in depth from 400mm deep to 300mm deep all with 100mm structural topping.
On the outer concrete walls there is a mineral wool core composite panel with a carrier system for the perforated corten steel to the external façade of the building.
Theatre Block (5 storey)
Pre-cast concrete frame utilizing flat slab construction for all floor plates.
To achieve acoustic requirements, there is a separate totally isolated structural steel frame within the auditorium.
The envelope to the theatre block includes cavity wall construction with rock wool insulation and a black brick with dark mortar to the external façade of the building.
Client: Gilbert Ash