Frensham Heights School, Performing Arts Theatre
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
Main entrance, building depicting a barn-type morphology cladded in laminated timber larch boarding
Dennis Gilbert/View (website) Download Original
Theatre built for both teaching use and public performance in a woodland setting in the south east of England
The building is sited within the grounds of a Victorian mansion and rests calmly behind a screen of mature oak trees through which the lively foyer areas can be seen on approach. This is reflected in its form depicting a barn-type morphology.
The auditorium is modelled on double cube proportions, creating a very adaptable space rising in three tiers to an exposed trussed rafter roof. Staging can be arranged in a variety of layouts and the seating can be electronically retracted to give a level floor surface throughout.
Data
- Begun: Apr 1999
- Completed: Mar 2000
- Floor area: 1,198m2
- Sectors: Arts and culture, Education
- Total cost: £1.4M
- Tender date: Dec 1998
- Procurement: JCT 80
- Address: Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4EA, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Burrell Foley Fischer Architects
- Project architects: Charles Everard, Chris Roche, Mark Foley, Oliver Perceval, Phillip Smithies, Trevor Price
- Client: Frensham Heights School
- Quantity surveyor: James Nisbet and Partners
- Services engineer: Yates Asscociates
- Planning supervisor: Safety Concern
- Structural engineer: Colin Toms & Partners
- Acoustic consultant: Fleming and Barron
- Landscape architect: Whitelaw Turkington
- Theatre consultant: Theatreplan
Suppliers
- Steelwork: Ward Prefabrication
- Glu-lam Structure: Kingston Craftsmen
- Larch cladding and posts: Beaumont Forest Products
- External Render: Rockwool
- External glazing: Vista Brunswick