Warwick Arts Centre
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Richard Einzig and Bill Toomey Download Original
Social, cultural, and theatrical hub of the university with a 550-seat theatre, music centre, studio theatre, conference hall, coffee shop, bookshop, workshops, dressing rooms and ancillary accommodation
The auditorium seats 550 people in a single-space plan. The forestage can be lowered to accommodate more seats for visiting productions, or an orchestra for musical productions. A 20m fly tower and suspension grid is fitted to insert and move props and scenery around the stage.
The music department is a self-contained building opposited the concourse, holding a lobby/common room and nine practice rooms. The conference hall sits off the concourse and has 200 places. Its design, although on a larger scale, is based on the Aldrick Hall of Harvard Business School.
The chapel consists of one main room for religious meetings, which seats 150. There are other minor chaplains' rooms, library, coffee lounge and smaller chapel. The walls are white concrete blocks, timber framed windows, asbestos slate roof. The ceilings have exposed timber and the chapel floor is asbestos slate tiles.
Data
- Begun: Dec 1971
- Completed: Nov 1974
- Floor area: 6,143m2
- Sectors: Arts and culture, Education
- Total cost: £958,260
- Tender date: Jul 1970
- Address: Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL , United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: RHWL
- Client: University of Warwick
- M&E consultant: Dale & Ewbank
- Electrical consultant: Pinto & Partners
- Acoustic consultant: Henry Humphreys
- Theatre consultant: Theatre Projects Ltd
- Structural engineer: Arup
- Civil engineer: Sir Frederick Snow & Partners
Suppliers
- Blockwork: Forticrete Ltd
- Auditorium seating: Race Furniture
- Special paints: J W Bollom & Co
- Stage towers: Tele-Stage Associates