The Marlowe Theatre
Keith Williamsʼ competition winning project for the new Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury was formally opened on the 4th October 2011 by HRH The Earl of Wessex KG, GCVO.
Named after Christopher Marlowe, Canterburyʼs famous Tudor playwright who was a contemporary of Shakespeare, the new 4,850m2 building replaces the existing theatre on its site in the heart of the cityʼs historic core, close to the Cathedral and the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Marlowe has a very large audience following and is a key part of the cultural life of the city and the region. The existing theatre building, a converted 1930ʼs cinema, seemed rather more akin to low grade jazzy seaside architecture, than the major theatre in one of Britainʼs finest historic cities. The building was demolished, with only the steel frame structure of existing flytower and its sub-stage being retained. The new Marlowe was built in its place on an expanded site, which includes adjacent brownfield land connecting the site to the banks of the River Stour as it winds through the city centre.
The new building contains a 1,200 seat main auditorium with 2 curved balconies, flytower and orchestra pit, a 150 seat studio theatre, cafes and bars, as well as rehearsal and backstage facilities. The main elements are united by an enwrapping colonnaded glazed foyer, which connects the theatreʼs new public spaces and terraces to the Stour.
The building has been treated as a single composition but heavily modelled so as to rise in steps from the scales of St.Peters Church and the existing buildings along the Friars, the street on which the Marlowe sits, to the pinnacle of the remodelled flytower. An 8m high, reconstructed stone colonnade enwraps the glass foyer, unifying and mediating between the necessarily large components such as the main auditorium and flytower, and the 2 and 3 storey historic buildings along The Friars. It also provides shelter to the south-facing foyer from solar gain.
The 3 level foyer unites all the major public spaces and the two auditoria. It is seen as a crystal ribbon by day transforming into a blade of light by night, an open and inviting place providing a new kind of meeting space within the city with the potential for extended social and cultural activity.
After the cathedral tower (Bell Harry), the Marloweʼs current flytower was the second tallest structure in the city. Lumpen and aesthetically crude, it contained, however, the minimum functional volume for its theatrical purpose. We determined that it should be remodelled to create accent, and a more dynamic silhouette than a rectangular functional shape could provide. In a radical move Keith Williams proposed a new form for the flytower some 9m taller at it highest point than that existing, to create a pinnacle. This proposal adjacent a World Heritage site sparked much debate.
Oriented toward the cathedral, the new flytower form may be seen as a prominent pinnacle of secular architecture within the city whilst ensuring that the tower of the mediaeval cathedralʻs religious architecture retains its pre-dominance.
The flytowerʼs surfaces are clad in a stainless steel mesh skin set 500mm in front of silver aluminium cladding, dematerialising the flytowerʼs form, and causing its surfaces to shimmer and sheen whilst subtly reflecting clouds and the hues of the daytime sky and sunset. The flytower is lit at night to increase the dramatic effect of the theatre both at approach of audience and from afar within the city.
In a move which echoes the elevated main theatre at the Unicorn Theatre 2001-2005, the second auditorium is lifted 5.5m above entrance level, to allow the foyer to slide beneath and maintain visual connection with the river. The second auditoriumʼs external skin is clad in pre-oxidised copper to make the visual distinction between the two auditoria and to form a contextual connection with the red and brown roofscape of the city.
The new project has transformed this western portion of the city and has been visited by audiences of more than 600,000 (July 2013) since opening.
2013
Civic Trust Award : Award Winner
The Structural Steel Design Awards : Commendation
RICS Regional Award
2012
RIBA Downland Trust Award : Award Winner
British Construction Industry Awards : Shortlisted for Building Project of the Year
British Construction Industry Awards : Shortlisted for the Prime Minsterʼs Award
East Kent Peopleʼs Award : Award Winner
The Cultural Landscape Award : Award Winner (Canterbury Culture Awards)
