chigwell school drama centre

Suzie Bridges was the Project Associate for the new Drama Centre for Chigwell School. The facility was designed as a dedicated facility for the teaching, development, production and performance of drama. The building helped to order the school layout and give it clarity and focus.

The building itself contains a highly adaptable 150 seat studio, with bleacher seating, tension wire grid and simple galleries. Surrounding the studio are a large open foyer, performance support areas, a drama classroom and other core spaces. A combination of traditional building forms and a modern palette of materials both inside and out, created a forward-looking building with a strong sense of context and place.

Structural Engineer:  AKT

Services Engineer:  Furness Green

Acoustics:  Arup

Theatre Consultant:  Northern Light

Cost Consultant:  Gardiner Theobald 

Cost Consultant:  Banks Wood and Partners

Photography:   Edmund Sumner

“They’ve shown how these ideas can be embodied in a bold but unfussy work of architecture, and demonstrated how a city-centre function like drama need not be out of place in a suburban setting.” Jeremy Melvin - Architectural Design