Brighton, United Kingdom
Matching perfectly with the rest of the campus, Krft’s new Performance Arts Centre for Brighton College attempts to bridge the monumental with the contemporary, both in form and in material.
The building rises up as a white chalk cliff from the green campus space.
The façade, mixing contemporary light brickwork with darker traditional flint bridges the different characters of the surrounding campus.
The building contains a fully equipped 400-seat theatre, incorporates studio spaces, social spaces, classrooms, and a multifunctional theatre hall on a very compact site.
Krft has positioned the theatre hall upwards, floating above a multi-oriented social space, that moves around the building, making connections to all outdoor spaces surrounding the site.
This emphasizes the building as a pivot point of all movement around the outdoor campus space and avoids any possible ‘backsides’ of the building on campus.
The underground studios, the raised theatre hall, and social spaces on the ground floor are all connected with a 3-dimensional public interior, with wide staircases going up and down, bathing in daylight.
The theatre hall itself is a compact, smart, detailed, wooden playbox with a daylight oculus, making it useful as a daily practice space as well.
Project: Performing Arts Centre Brighton College (PAC Brighton)
Architects: Krft
Lead Architect: Thomas Dieben
Collaborating Architects: Nicolas Hare Architects
Client: Brighton College
Photographers: Stijn Bollaert
