Royal Exchange Theatre
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Tim Street-Porter Download Original
Seven sided theatre-in-the-round, suspended within Manchester's three-domed Edwardian Cotton Exchange
The design of the auditorium aimed to give a lightness and character precisely opposite to that of the building that houses it. All other public areas including the restaurant, rehearsal rooms, offices, dressing rooms and service areas were incorporated within the original cotton exchange building.
The structure is carried on the four brick piers that also hold the vast dome of the original building. A rectangle of 30m by 21m sits between the piers dictating the size of the theatre. Four trusses form the principal walls of the module with additional trusses forming the roof. Steel mesh panels, toughened glass and steel decking enclose the structure.
The theatre provides a separate acoustic entity with seating for 700 people spread between cantilevered galleries and the existing floor plate.
Data
- Begun: 1975
- Completed: 1976
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £775,000
- Tender date: 1974
- Address: St Anns Square, Manchester, M2 7DH, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Levitt Bernstein
- Project architects: Anthony McIntyre, Axel Burrough, Eric Chapman, Gabrielle Moore, Malcolm Brown, Richard Negri
- Client: Royal Exchange Theatre Company
- Structural engineer: Ove Arup & Partners
- Quantity surveyor: Mahon & Scears
- Services engineer: Max Fordham and Partners
- Quantity surveyor: Monk and Dunstone
- Theatre Services: Theatre Projects
- Acoustics: D. K. Jones
- Sound: Ian Gibson
Suppliers
- Seating design & construction: Seating International