Tim Lynch explores a performing arts centre set among trees at Wellington College by Studio Seilern Architects

Words
Tim Lynch
Photos
Hufton & Crow, Kanipak Photography, Tom Miller (portrait)

Wellington College is a public school in Berkshire, established in 1856 with a series of brick and stone buildings by John Shaw Junior, designed in French Rococo style and set around rectilinear courts lined with colonnades. The 400-acre campus includes a George Gilbert Scott-designed chapel, which is not large enough to house the entire school population of 1040 pupils and teaching staff of almost 200. Until recently, the weekly school assemblies took place in three different venues, linked via simultaneous broadcast. The more recent buildings to the east are of poorer quality and laid out in a less ordered fashion. As the school extended towards the edge of the Bracknell Forest, it also became necessary for new buildings to deal with a sloping landscape. In common with most schools, the twentieth-century buildings are now in need of refurbishment or replacement.

The 1970s Christopher Lee Theatre – named after the ‘Dracula’ actor, an alumnus – seats 360 and has a somewhat sunken appearance due to the four-metre level difference from the approach to the entrance via steep terracing. Its refurbishment originally formed part of the brief for a new adjoining theatre by Studio Seilern Architects (SSA), in which the whole school population can be accommodated.

SSA’s competition-winning scheme for the GW Annenberg Performing Arts Centre– and subsequent planning application – envisaged a minimally-glazed single-storey foyer serving larger dark timber-clad volumes on either side, with a unifying cladding of charred timber and a bowl-like entrance court that mirrored the stepping of the roofs. Views through the foyer would connect the ensemble to the forest beyond. The existing building was to be reworked to include a ‘black box’ theatre, dance studio, recording studio and music practice rooms. Unfortunately, lack of funds meant that the adaptation of the existing theatre has not happened. Not being able to fully engage with its neighbour (beyond some back-of-house shared changing rooms), the new building has lost a great deal. There is talk of a later phase, but one suspects the moment has passed.

Christina Seilern describes the performing arts centre as a ‘hinge’ between the old and new buildings of the campus. One first catches sight of the new building obliquely, through trees, as one approaches from the main entrance. The 33-metre-diameter auditorium is a steel frame clad with rough-sawn larch vertical boarding, on a concrete basement structure partially recessed into the sloping ground. The section is complex – Seilern has designed many theatres and opera houses at SSA and earlier as a director of Rafael Viñoly Architects, and her skilful planning is evident. The circular form of the auditorium is a clever way of dealing with the fact that the building has multiple entrances. It reduces the bulk and also allows for an intimacy and efficiency of internal planning. The timber cladding has been carefully detailed with no visible fixings, and irregular board lengths sail past the glazing below and the roof above, creating blurred edges that soften the building’s form. Instead of the charred timber cladding that was initially proposed, the architects have used a dark stain, which has a depth and liveliness. Seilern describes the building as ‘floating’ above the glazed perimeter circulation route, and one can imagine that conceit working at dusk. Budget cuts to the landscaping have left the backstage entrance visible from the approach, but hopefully this can be remedied in time.

There is an entrance at gallery level, set within the frameless glazed base, and external steps extend through the glazing to become the internal stair. Seilern suggests this creates an interesting juxtaposition during performances, of people passing each other on either side of the glass as they walk up and down.

Another lower entrance is through the foyer link building between the new auditorium and the existing theatre. It is regrettable that the window to the rear of the foyer has fallen victim to cost-cutting, and that the grey roof covering is visible from high ground; had the foyer been a foot or so taller, it would have made for a more elegant composition. There is a lovely swathe of new landscaping in front of the building by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, which incorporates a looping gravel ramp that theatrically makes its way down four metres to a flat area in front of the foyer. It is a shame that the proposed stepping up of the landscaping to the Christopher Lee Theatre has not been implemented, as it would have allowed this space to connect both theatres in a single gesture. Instead, there is a clunky painted wall that separates the two forecourts, like frosty neighbours turning their backs on each other.

The foyer has the grand title of ‘Cultural Living Room’, but is a rather plain box with stepped seating to the rear and an unsatisfactory relationship to the two theatres. Only a single door which looks like a fire escape hints at the Christopher Lee Theatre, and there is an uncelebrated entrance to the new auditorium via a simple opening in a plasterboard wall. Unfortunately the timber cladding does not continue inside as early CGIs suggest, and the soffit is less impactful than the timber coffers initially proposed. The richness of the exterior is not continued inside, where plasterboard and MDF take over. The late addition of a gallery-level bar cramps the upper entrance, but the section is well worked though, and the gallery seating extends to the full extent of the drum – it is impressive how 930 seats are crammed into such a tight plan. The auditorium has an intimacy which suggests a great performance space. It is well equipped, with a full technical level above, and there are soft drapes at the upper level to vary the acoustics. It is unfortunate that the internal finishes lack the finesse of the exterior as it is a great space. The criticisms can be explained by the fact that the built project did not include the full extent of the competition-winning vision, and the project was then tendered as a design & build contract at Stage 3, with SSA only novated for the exterior. It is to be hoped that the project’s final phase happens with the architects’ full input to complete what could be a wonderful complex.

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