Today, the Southbank Centre announced its appointment of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS) as lead architect to refurbish and renew the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery complex. The UK-practice beat OMA, Heneghan Peng, Allies & Morrison, Eric Parry, van Heyningen & Haward and Grimshaw Architects to the job (see shortlist here). A formal appointment will be made after the statutory 10-day standstill period in accordance with EU regulations.
Rick Mather, Southbank Centre’s Masterplan Architect and a member of the selection panel, said: “We heard a huge amount of high quality and serious thinking demonstrating six quite different approaches to this part of the site. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio’s proposals won because they best understood the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery complex and how it can be enjoyed and used more effectively. I look forward to seeing their designs develop over the coming months.”
Learn more after the break.
Based in London and Bath, FCBS is an award-winning practice, including the Stirling Prize in 2008 and was the first UK architectural practice to win a Queen’s Award for sustainable development. Their extensive arts and heritage portfolio includes major projects at Windsor Castle, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Derby QUAD.
The refurbishment and renewal project will bring the performance spaces and galleries in the complex up to the standard of the recently transformed Royal Festival Hall and will address current urgent problems including poor access to and the upgrading of the stages and galleries; substandard back stage areas; and worn out services.
Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios will now work closely with Southbank Centre to develop design proposals for this part of the 21-acre site. In addition to the core refurbishment, they will explore a more ambitious project to reclaim unused and underused space to transform the whole of this complex and deliver more flexible cultural and social use in line with the successful and popular festival program across art forms.
The design proposals will be shared in Spring 2013.
via Southbank Centre
