Opera House Glyndebourne
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A brick opera house comprising a 1,200 seat auditorium, workshops, dressing rooms, studios, restaurant, bar and offices connected to an existing Edwardian house in the Sussex countryside
Glyndebourne occupies the same site as the old opera house, but has been rotated by 180 degrees so that the front of house areas now lead naturally onto the gardens. This re-orientation disguises the bulk of the new building by digging it ten metres into the slope of the site.
The large inter-dependent and windowless volume of the 1,200 seat auditorium, the fly tower, stage, side stages and back stage with their fixed relationships, are placed in the centre of the building. The foyers and back-up spaces - dressing rooms, the green room, studios, offices and workshops are wrapped around the building on three levels, giving views out to the gardens and scale and proportion to the facade.
The auditorium has a traditional, intimate horseshoe form and is lined in pitch pine. The shapes of the auditorium interior are acoustically proscribed.
Glyndebourne combines traditional load bearing brick walls, which match the adjacent house, with highly finished pre-cast concrete ceiling panels. The roof and fly tower are clad in lead panels. An elegant fabric canopy shelters the foyer.
Data
- Begun: 1991
- Completed: May 1994
- Floor area: 12,000m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £30M
- Address: Glyndebourne , Lewes, East Sussex , BN8 5UU, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Hopkins Architects
- Client: Glyndebourne House
- Structural engineer: Arup
- Main contractor: Bovis
Suppliers
- Brick Manufacturer: Selborne Bricks
- Brick contractor: Irvine and Whitlock