Location: London, United Kingdom.

Architect: Ian Ritchie Architects.

The Royal Academy of Music has created two new performance spaces, the Susie Sainsbury Theatre and the Angela Burgess Recital Hall, as part of a project to improve connectivity within the Academy. The Theatre, designed for opera and musical theatre, was built within the shell of a 1970s auditorium and stage, while the Recital Hall was built above it, providing additional space for student rehearsal, performance, public events and recording. The Theatre incorporates 40% more seating than previously, with a balcony, larger orchestra pit, stage wing and fly tower. The Recital Hall is entirely lined in pale, lime-washed oak and is acoustically isolated from the Theatre and all other buildings. The new spaces were designed with inspiration from string instruments, with curved shapes and construction and tuning mechanisms. The external additions are clad in pre-patinated grey-blue copper, blending with the sky when seen from adjacent properties and from within the Academy through the clear glass connection to the old building. The project was complex due to the constrained site and the many sensitive acoustic adjacencies, but the completed spaces are stunningly beautiful, acoustically brilliant and inspiring, according to the Principal of the Royal Academy of Music.

Photo credit: Adam Scott.