The Transformation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre has brought together a number of important architectural themes. At its heart, the new auditorium will revolutionise the way audiences experience live theatre. Its public spaces are enticing, accessible and welcoming, and its relationship with the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon has been reinvigorated by the creation of the tower, new external spaces and routes. The design has sensitively incorporated the most significant remains of the earlier theatres which stood on the site and retained their essential character. But the whole project is about more than just the experience of the new auditorium, or historic building conservation, or an urban masterplan, it aims to be a seamless combination of all three.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s progression from the original nineteenth century summer festival theatre on the banks of the Avon to the building seen today has been one of evolution rather than reconstruction. At each major point of change (the catastrophic 1926 fire leading to Elisabeth Scott’s rebuilding, Michael Reardon’s 1985 Swan Theatre for Trevor Nunn, and the latest Transformation project) significant parts of the site were left untouched, often for reasons of practicality or financial necessity rather than sentiment. The current building therefore owes its richness and complexity to these many layers of history, much of which has been retained and enhanced in the latest project.

Conceived at the height of cinema’s golden age, Elisabeth Scott’s 1932 auditorium was a vast fanshaped room which placed the actors behind the picture-frame of a proscenium arch. The high and distant balconies and the bare side-walls created a void across which audience and actors have struggled to communicate for generations despite the RSC’s many attempts at modification. In addition to its unpopular auditorium, Scott’s building missed the opportunity to connect with the town of Stratford-on-Avon. At an urban level, its entrances and fine brick facades were placed to the North and East, addressing the river and Bancroft Gardens whilst a utilitarian ‘jam factory’ façade with a grid of small punched windows faced the town. Where Scott excelled however, was in the detail of the building’s public spaces which were carried out with a high level of craftsmanship using a rich palette of materials.

It was clear from the beginning of the Transformation project that major changes would be required to the existing building to create the modern, accessible theatre the RSC required. Firstly the auditorium was completely re-thought in order to create a space properly suited to the performance of Shakespeare, this meant radical rebuilding at the heart of the old theatre. Secondly, the team looked for ways of improving the theatre’s physical relationship with the town, a masterplan was devised which identified important pedestrian routes between the Town, Bancroft Gardens, River Avon and Holy Trinity Church. These routes were then reinforced in the design of the theatre by the creation of a continuous riverside walkway, Theatre Square, the viewing tower and the colonnade and placing new entrances to create a much more permeable building.

The viewing tower was a deliberate reference to the tower which had existed on the site as part of the original 1879 theatre, its function was to allow visitors to take in views across the town, but also to act as a water tower for the fire brigade. Whilst it excelled in the former, it failed in the latter and was engulfed in the fire which destroyed much of the original theatre in 1926. The new tower and the square at its base mark new entrances to the building and create important links between the theatre and the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. From its top, today’s visitors will again take in views of Shakespeare’s birthplace, his schoolroom, the site of his later house, and Holy Trinity church in which
he was married and is buried.

Amid all this change, the essence of Elizabeth Scott’s design remains clearly visible with its immense loadbearing brick flytower and formal entrance façade. The stripping back of later extensions on the riverside has revealed the original brick elevation which had been obscured for 70 years, and the characteristic fan-shaped geometry of the 1932 building is still evident in the ‘kinked’ elevations to each side of the building, embracing the riverside terrace to the east and Theatre Square to the west. Inside the building the fine interiors of the foyer spaces and grand staircase have been sensitively restored. And finally, in the heart of the building the intimate new auditorium fits comfortably within the scarred outer walls of Scott’s now demolished auditorium, leaving a triple-height void on three sides providing much-needed orientation space and a potent physical reminder of the sheer scale of the old theatre, where despite its shortcomings, so many great performances took place.