The Dovecote Studio
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The building sits in the abstract landscape of the reedbeds at the boundary between the land and the sea
Haworth Tompkins Download Original
Corten steel art studio built within the ruins of a nineteenth century dovecote. Winner of 2010 Architects' Journal Small Projects Award
The Dovecot Studio forms part of the internationally renowned music campus at Snape Maltings, founded by Benjamin Britten in derelict industrial buildings on the Suffolk coast. Britten was inspired by the almost abstract landscape of the reedbeds at the boundary between the land and the sea: the ruins of a nineteenth century dovecot sit directly on this boundary, looking out across the marshes.
The Dovecot Studio inhabits the ruins and expresses the internal volume of the Victorian structure as a Corten steel ‘lining’, a monocoque welded structure that was built next to the ruin and craned in when complete. The building is fully welded in a single piece, like the hull of a ship, to achieve weather tightness, and then fitted with a simple plywood inner lining.
A large north light roof window provides even light for artists, while a small mezzanine platform with a writing desk incorporates a fully opening glazed corner window that gives long views over the marshes towards the sea.
The single volume will be used by artists in residence (it can operate as a simple bedsitting room with a compact kitchen), by musicians as rehearsal or performance space (there is a large opening door to an adjoining courtyard), by staff for meetings or as a temporary exhibition space.
Data
- Completed: Aug 2009
- Floor area: 30m2
- Sector: Education
- Total cost: £155,000
- Procurement: JCT IFC '98
- Address: The Dovecote Studio, Snape Maltings, Snape, IP17 1SR, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Haworth Tompkins
- Client: Aldeburgh Music
- Main contractor: Elliston Steady and Hawes
- Structural engineer: Price and Myers
- Environmental engineer: Ernest Griffiths
- CDM coordinator: PFB Construction Management Services