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major redevelopment of Welsh theatre
Theatr Clywd’s home is a sprawling, mid-70s arts complex, originally designed to house both theatre and TV production spaces. Sited on a hillside above the town of Mold in North Wales, the red brick building is in urgent need of reconfiguration and upgrading. We have been working closely with Flintshire County Council and the Theatr Clywd team to open up the theatre more fully to its wonderful landscape and to the community that it serves.
Our work aims to repurpose the existing fabric and to demolish and replace only what is essential to enable the organisation to expand its role as Wales’ biggest producing house as well as the cultural centrepiece of the region. The client and design team spent many months in research, consultation and technical option studies to maximise the cultural capacity of the building at the practical minimum embodied and operational carbon cost. Once complete, the theatre will provide multiple possibilities for performance, music and community support uses throughout the day and throughout the year.
New structural additions like the reconfigured foyer and sun shading canopy will be made of larch and reused steel, while existing spaces will be upgraded and insulated to allow the theatre to run on 100% renewable electricity via air sourced heat pumps and LED lighting. With a programme of extensive tree planting, green walls, roof planting and extensive on-site PVs we aim to contribute to hitting a whole life zero carbon target and for this project to be an exemplar of 21st century cultural space.
