London, United Kingdom
Renato Benedetti and Carla Sorrentino of Benedetti Architects have completed an ambitious renovation of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts’ historic headquarters in London boldly blending history and future in the refurbishment project.
Benedetti’s design has enhanced BAFTA’s international identity as the center of excellence for motion picture arts in Film, Games, and Television; integrating innovative state-of-the-art technology and cost-in-use efficiency while sensitively balancing education/learning and public access, with members’ needs and revenue generation, ensuring the charity’s long-term social, environmental and economic sustainability.
The project has recently been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Built in 1883 by English architect E. R. Robson, the three-story structure was originally used to hold multi-purpose events for the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours until 1974.
The design creates 2.465 square meters of state-of-the-art spaces of far greater flexibility, balancing charitable education programs with members’ needs & raising income (BAFTA get no government funding).
At its heart the Learning & New Talent floor (including the Clore Foundation’s 1st UK learning space for moving image arts) is a core charity mission; enabling the support, inspiration & training of diverse young creatives in Film, Games & TV.
The design significantly increases usable area and doubles capacity & WCs, by reconfiguring the entire infrastructure, improving energy performance, fire safety, acoustics, thermal comfort & flexible useability.
The completely new unifying interior design enhances BAFTA’s unique character & celebrates its historic assets.
Classic long-lasting sustainable materials are finely crafted in a suite of details that refine as you ascend to the new top-floor crescendo.
The inventive re-working of various combinations of spaces, volumes, views, and sequential movement enables robust charitable/commercial adaptability and opportunities for special-event theatrical “reveals,” securing long-term social and economic sustainability.
An extraordinary new top floor multi-use members area was created by our discovery, restoration, and repositioning 3m higher, two enormous original 1883 Victorian rooflight structures & decorative plasterwork considered lost 45+ years; giving a UK debut to an innovative new liquid-crystal high thermal performance “smart” glazing which removes 80% of the harmful UV & glare while uniquely remaining clear for users to enjoy spectacular views within the trees’ canopy of St. James’s Churchyard.
Another UK first, is the Learning/New Talent bar-screen made of an organic 3D-printed fabric-like form maximizing surface area, using a new material that removes carbon/nitrous oxides from the air, equivalent to a young tree.
Completely new services & thermal upgrades will produce operational energy efficiencies of ±73% equal to saving 292 tonnes of carbon/year, despite heritage restrictions forcing the retention of single-glazed historic windows.
The scheme includes a 227-seat Princess Anne cinema/theatre (designed with Dolby ensuring it’s the UK’s best), 41-seat cinema/theatre, four kitchens/bars, multi-purpose event/exhibition spaces, a new boardroom re-using historic materials found in construction (with bespoke table & chairs by Benedetti Architects), judging/meeting rooms, staff welfare/offices, and new terraces overlooking Piccadilly and St. James’s Church & churchyard.
The design has significantly raised BAFTA’s design image and they are delighted with the design’s performance, breaking records for attendance, and revenue which is rolled back into ever more charitable programs.
Project: British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Headquarters
Architects: Benedetti Architects
Lead Architect: Renato Benedetti
Project Architect: Carla Sorrentino
Original Architect: E. R. Robson (1883)
Client: British Academy of Film and Television Arts Headquarters
Photographers: Luca Piffaretti, Jim Stephenson, Rory Mulvey, and Jordan Anderson
