Location: London, United Kingdom.

Architect: Ian Ritchie.

The Royal Academy of Music in London has created two new performance spaces, a theatre and a recital hall, designed by Ian Ritchie Architects. The theatre, designed for both opera and musical theatre, was created within the shell of a 1970s fan-shaped auditorium and stage, and incorporates 40% more seating than previously, as well as a larger orchestra pit, a stage wing and a fly tower. The 100-seat recital hall, which is acoustically isolated from the theatre and all other buildings, is entirely lined in pale, lime-washed oak and has a footprint as large as that of the main stage, providing an ideal rehearsal space. The new spaces were inspired by string instruments, with the theatre designed to be both intimate and epic, and the recital hall designed to be tranquil and calming. The new additions were conceived as a unified form to respect the local built environment and clad in pre-patinated grey-blue copper. The project was complex due to the constrained site into which a new volume and the myriad functions of a modern opera and musical theatre were to be introduced. The many sensitive acoustic adjacencies were established at the initial design stages and design detail was developed from these acoustic ‘directives’. The completed spaces are a testament to the hard work of the professional design team, the contractor and their subcontractors, and the patience, will, determination and support of the Royal Academy of Music.

Photo credit: Adam Scott.