Victoria Hall

The red-brick exterior is minimally detailed with the original classical features echoing the adjacent Victorian brickwork.

Most of the ground level is faced in vandal-proof material, rather than the fragile terracotta used above, with little glazing. The accentuated staircase towers, were used to block views of the unused land towards the south of the site.

Front-of-house, where the four-storey extension has been built on to the south facade, contains the box office and administration. Inside, giant roof trusses are left exposed. The foyer building had a reinforced-concrete-framed structure with added columns for increased stability. The glass-clad atrium linking new with old was framed in exposed steel with a barrel-vaulted roof with double skin polycarbonate dome.

In the hall, the main access and storage areas behind the stage had to be enlarged. Walls from this area, which supported a five-tonne organ, were removed and replaced with paired steel box frames.

Enlarging the stage affected the sight lines, so the pitch and length of the balconies had to be altered.

Backstage spaces have been rationalised and extended to provide more convenient access and storage for props and equipment.