latest news headlines
Arts Team to Rejuvenate the Watford Colosseum
Arts Team's proposals to transform the 70-year-old Watford Colosseum received planning approval and listed building consent at the end of last month, and work on the £4.3m scheme is to start on site in May.
The Colosseum, built in 1938, is very much a performance building of its time. Despite having a concert hall with a well regarded acoustic, the building lacks the facilities demanded by contemporary audiences, performers and management.
Arts Team's design focuses on two key components: restoration and upgrading of the hall and the provision of an extended and enhanced public foyer and support accommodation. The latter is achieved by the addition of a foyer extension, which allows the building to become more physically and conceptually open.
Arts Team director Julian Middleton said "Whilst an evening at the Colosseum should always focus on the performance itself, for us as designers what makes a good night out is the complete experience. Our client, HQ Theatres, understands this implicitly, balancing a wide range of performances and events with a desire to offer state-of-the-art front of house facilities. Our design responds to their vision and balances a respect for the historic building with the imperative of rejuvenating the venue for a new generation of audiences - creating a bold, vibrant and exciting place to be - and be seen."
Arts Team's cubic design creates a visual connection to the Colosseum form, and the use of a silver-grey brick and coloured glass create a visual contrast. Coloured glass windows of the new foyer will provide dramatically different environments at differing times of day.
During the day, the silver-grey brick and plastered wall linings will be lit by shards of coloured light. As the sun moves around, these coloured elements will animate the interior and create a changing tableau. In the evening the coloured glazing will be lit up from within, revealing the activity inside the building.
The evening will also make the interior décor more dramatic. The muted coloured palette will be intensified by vibrant flashes of colour in the bar and the carpet designs- alongside theatrical lighting effects. The original art deco interior style is reinforced within both the refurbished hall and the new building.
The Town Hall and the Assembly Hall (as the Colosseum was then known), were designed by architect C.C.F. Voysey. The Assembly Hall acoustics were designed by Hope Bagenall. The neo classical building has neo classical interior elements combined with late art deco detailing.
In picture: a new look for the Watford Colosseum - each block of seating in the Main Hall auditorium will have a different base colour of autumnal tones, becoming slightly darker toward the back of the Hall. A random array of seats will then be highlighted in the brighter accent colours of orange. The art deco theme is carried through in the new foyer with use of features such as the coved ceiling lighting and the random layout of the square down lighters. The bold colour palette and flamboyant carpet also run through. The new foyer will provide dramatically different environments at differing times of day. The long corridors that flank either side of the Main Hall are transition spaces between public foyer and performance space. Rich wall colours and the vibrant carpet design will combine to add the sense of theatrically and expectation.
3rd March 2010
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
