James Soane’s inspiration: Liverpool Playhouse extension
12th March 2010
The glamour and confidence of a sixties extension to a 19th century theatre had an early influence on James Soane of Project Orange. The Liverpool Playhouse extension is a very autobiographical choice as an inspiration. This building was conceived in the same year as me (1966) and every day at home I saw a photo of it from when it was newly completed, hanging on the wall of my father’s study — he was a structural engineer and it was his first project. It entered into my consciousness before I even knew what architecture was.
We lived nearby in the Wirral. I remember going to the Playhouse when I was a kid and thinking it was so modern. It was a total environment with its glamorous restaurant, wire frame chairs and bright colours — I recall pinks and purples. I remember feeling the impact of something new and different as I went up this whizzy circulation space and then had the contrast of going through into the old auditorium. The first show I saw there was Godspell in 1978 –I’ve still got the programme.
It was built in the late sixties when Liverpool had a real buzz about it. There was all this regeneration going on before things all went wrong for the city in the seventies. At the time, the Playhouse punched above its weight for a theatre outside London and it needed an extension to solve its circulation problems. The extension isn’t a famous building — it didn’t come up when I studied architecture — but buildings don’t always have to be virtuoso performances. Instead, it was there to support the progressive theatre. However it was unusual and, I think, exceptional.
It was quite brave – a real bit of contemporariness in the city. It’s neither replica nor pastiche but instead makes a new statement and represents a completely different mood of architecture to the original theatre. I applaud the confidence that the building shows.
While there may have been a sense in which the building was too radical, on the whole the public were behind modern architecture. This wasn’t commonplace if you lived in suburbia but it was more so in the centre of Liverpool. St John’s Beacon tower with its revolving restaurant came along soon afterwards just behind the theatre and soon there was a Habitat store nearby.
Whether you like it or not, the extension is still a very strong statement. It’s kind of brutal yet sensuous. It’s not trying to be politely modernist. At night, the transparency really comes into its own and you can see people milling about inside, eating and drinking. The extension was handmade in a fairly traditional way rather than put together as a kit of parts. It’s a prototype and it belongs here in this context, and that comes across.
The Playhouse extension was the building that made me aware of modern architecture before I knew anything about it. It was experimental, pushing the planning boundaries and pushing the structural design but all within a budget, and those are things we aspire to at Project Orange.
The way the Playhouse extension deals with the corner is also important. The original theatre building uses a dome on the corner to signify its presence and act as a beacon, while the extension takes a series of interlocking curves to create a powerful sense of movement, to the extent that you could say the whole building is the corner. This was something we were very aware of at our Glossop Road project in Sheffield — a mixed-use building that is anchored to the site by a five-storey curved black brick corner. There is an elegant building with a cupola next to our site and we had to think how to respond. We proposed a wave to create a facade with a bit of fluidity that still referred to the circular form of the cupola.
The Playhouse extension is not the first building to use the circulation and the function of the building to dictate the form, but it is a very vivid example, and is actually rather dynamic. It works on the urban level because you see people spilling into and animating the edge of the square — while from within, you come out of the “black box” of the theatre into the city. In that sense, the presence of people provides both the spectacle and the audience — it is in the spirit of the theatre. In our Cemetery Road project in Sheffield, the unusual typology of townhouses is articulated by the staircases that jut out and snake around the facade creating a sense of rhythm and modelling which also serves to give identity to each unit.
While the design for the Playhouse extension grew out of its function, it’s about rather more than that. The wilful composition derived from the inter-relationship of the three structural columns and the interior is spatially very rich. It also has a strong sense of the material — exposed concrete, glass, black framed glazing etc, which made a very memorable interior at the time.
Coming back to visit the playhouse today, it’s interesting to remember how pure the original was and to see how over time there’s been this layering of bits and junk as well as cosmetic tweaks. There are certainly some things about it now that are less desirable. This diluting isn’t the end of the world with a building like this because the sculptural design is so robust that it transcends the layering. It’s powerful enough to take it. The interior today may be rather anodyne now but the space is fantastic and it still works well as a big window into the city, bulging out over the square. It’s certainly still got something about it, and it wouldn’t take much to put it right.
A glitzy and spirited extension to merseyside’s only surviving Victorian theatre
Ken Martin’s dramatic extension in 1968 has been the most significant alteration ever made to the Liverpool Playhouse, which is the only surviving Victorian theatre still in active use in Merseyside.
The original theatre was designed by architect Edward Davies and completed in 1866 when it was known as the Star Music Hall. It became the home of the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 when it was purchased and upgraded under the auspices of the professor of architecture at Liverpool University, Charles Reilly. The theatre is now grade II* listed.
Martin’s extension was built to house a new entrance, box office bar and restaurant, which was later taken out. He was project architect at Hall O’Donahue & Wilson and has been involved in several other projects at the theatre over the years. Martin describes the £240,000 extension as “glitzy and fresh” and a ”spirited building on a limited site.” He is proud that it finished on time and on budget although this was achieved with some economising — the staircase for example only cost £750. He is still working as an architect and recently completed the seaside Floral Pavilion theatre and conference centre in New Brighton.
The Playhouse closed in the late nineties and reopened in 2000 under the management of the Liverpool & Merseyside Theatres Trust, which also runs the city’s Everyman Theatre. The new owner plans both a refur-bishment of the Playhouse, and an extension by Haworth Tompkins for the Everyman.
Source: BD Online
