Conservation Management Statement Battersea Arts Centre First Draft July 2008
Haworth Tompkins Conservation Management Statement Battersea Arts Centre First Draft July 2008
Haworth Tompkins Ltd Battersea Arts Centre 19-20 Great Sutton Street Lavender Hill London EC1V 0DR London SW11 5TN
All images Haworth Tompkins Ltd / BAC unless otherwise stated in Images List
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Lavender Hill, Principal facade
3 Contents
IINTRODUCTION • Summary of BAC 8 • BAC’s vision 8 • Circumstances/Purpose of statement 8 • Scope of the statement 9 • Authorship, Stakeholder participation 9 • Implementation 10
1. UNDERSTANDING 12 The Place 12 The Architect 14 The Building 18 • The Municipal Building 20 • The Grand Hall 24 • Developments to the Built Fabric 26 • Development of the building as BAC 32 Social History 34 • The establishment of BAC 34 Battersea Arts Centre Today 38 • Cultural significance of BAC 38 • Current artistic programme 42 • The structure of the institution 44 • Commercial activities 46 • The relationship between BAC and local area 48
2. SIGNIFICANCE 50 • Architectural 50 • Historical 50 • Social 50
3. ISSUES AND OPPORTUNTIES 52 • Participatory Theatre 52 • Need to upgrade technical infrastructures 52 • Access/Health & Safety 52 • Town Hall Road 54 • Environmental Sustainability 54 • Wear & Tear to built fabric 58
4. CONSERVATION STRATEGY 60 Schedule of building fabric 60 • Exterior 62 • Interior 62 • General components 62 Relative Sensitivity analysis 64
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Grand Stairs
5 Appendices
Appendix 1: Definition of a conservation statement by English Heritage 74 Definition of a heritage asset by English Heritage
Appendix 2: E.W. Mountford - mini biography 75
Appendix 3: Transcript of the 1893 Inauguration Programme 76
Appendix 4: English Heritage Listing description 80
Appendix 5: Chronological list of social and cultural events affecting the building 81 and BAC
Appendix 6: Chronological list of events affecting the built fabric 83
Appendix 7: Chronological list of Planning Applications & Listed Building Consents 87 as recorded by Wandsworth Borough Council
Appendix 8: List of architects involved with BAC 89
Appendix 9: Project Directory 90
Appendix 10: BAC Press Releases since January 2007 91
Appendix 11: Contemporary Press articles on BAC 93
Appendix 12: Current plans of the building 98
Appendix 13: Hedley Merriman Surveyors Conditions Survey of the building 105
Appendix 14: Annexure 2 Works Programme 111 LBW Counterpart Lease of Battersea Arts Centre to BAC
Appendix 15: Condition report Hope-Jones organ 115 LBW Counterpart Lease of Battersea Arts Centre to BAC
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Cafe Bar
7 Introduction
The organisation Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) is a revenue funded arts organisation, founded in 1981. It has grown synonymous over the years with the building housing it, Battersea Old Town Hall, on Lavender Hill in southwest London. It is highly acclaimed for its innovative approach to theatre making and for the many successful artists who continue to emerge through its doors. BAC aims to create and promote exciting, high quality, risk-taking arts activity through creative collaborations between artists, staff and public. The emphasis is on theatre and performance, primarily on devised rather than script-based work. BAC believes in a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach to making theatre and actively encourages artists to experiment and break new ground.
BAC’s vision BAC’s mission is to invent the future of theatre. It has a vision of a 21st Century theatre in a 19th Century Town Hall; a theatre that will bring people together and create live moments that change the way we look at the universe and understand ourselves within it. BAC believes in theatre as a transformative and participatory experience that inspires individual and collective imagination.
A dream factory generating the theatre of tomorrow, The Times.
The purpose/circumstances of the Statement Battersea Old Town Hall is a handsome example of late 19th century civic architecture, designed with great care and craftsmanship. This conservation statement for BAC will be used to examine the architectural and cultural significance of the building, in order to provide a framework within which any future repair, alterations or additions to the built fabric should be developed.
After facing closure at the withdrawal of funding and an increase in rent by Wandsworth Borough Council (WBC) in January 2007, BAC received nationwide support. BAC came to a new agreement with the council, securing an 125-year lease of the building, with the first ten years of that rent free, continued financial support from WBC and acquired new funding from other sources, including the Arts Council England. The Arts Council has always been supportive of the innovative work at BAC but they have come to champion the recent initiatives of the organisation, and in particular the idea of ‘Playgrounding’.
Recently the first of BAC’s Playground Projects, The Masque of the Red Death, (MORD) was an seven-month sell out success. The promenade performance, a co-production by the theatre company Punchdrunk and BAC, used the building in an unprecedented way. Opening it up as one continuous stage, the production uncovered thirty percent more usable performance space at BAC. The performance served to strengthen an existing connection between the organisation and its home, the Old Town Hall. Decked out in Victorian splendour, MORD summoned up ghosts from the building’s past, heightening an experience of the building as more ‘itself’. This idea of the building returning to a more authentic version of itself, essentially as a Victorian Town Hall, has become one of
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Introduction
BAC’s key aims for development. A new, healthy and supportive relationship has grown from these events between BAC and WBC, English Heritage and the Arts Council. A strong shared vision and design brief for the building has evolved in collaboration with Haworth Tompkins architects who have been working with BAC since the inception of MORD. BAC have a 125 year lease of the building from the Council which includes a Works Programme detailing the maintenance work required over the next 10 years (refer to Appendix 14 for the Works Programme, Annexure 2 of the building lease). This document is necessary to ensure that due care and consideration is taken when making
The scope of the statement and limitations of study This conservation statement (refer to Appendix 01 for definition of a Conservation Statement by English Heritage) is intended to describe the building, the organisation, its circumstances and aspirations, within its context as a functioning building and a heritage asset (refer to Appendix 01 for definition of a heritage asset by English Heritage), requiring both protecting and enhancing.
The conservation statement will: - outline Battersea Arts Centre’s vision for the future, noting the problems and opportunities it faces in achieving its goals; - outline the history and the role of BAC and the building, giving the architectural, social and cultural context; - assess BAC’s major points of architectural, cultural and historic significance, as a whole and in terms of individual components; - look at any issues and vulnerabilities that the building faces, including current conditions of the fabric of the building and any actions needed for repair, conservation or restoration; - identify those areas which are under-performing or in need of repair; - identify the opportunities that exist for development; - identify the procedures required to implement the conservation strategies.
Authorship, stakeholder participation, collaboration and consultation process Haworth Tompkins has researched and prepared the conservation statement jointly with BAC. Ongoing discussion with building users has informed both the initial assessments of the built fabric and its occupation, and the identification of opportunities for improvement and how these may best be implemented. Groups being consulted include BAC staff, visiting artists and the public, as well as BAC’s immediate neighbours.
Over the past few years BAC and Haworth Tompkins have developed a relationship where the architect acts as a collaborating artist rather than an external consultant. Acknowledging the relationship with their building as key to their work, BAC have expanded their existing activities program of ‘Theatre, Participation and Events’ with a fourth strand called ‘Space’. Figure 1
9 Introduction
This statement is a working document, to be reviewed, agreed, consulted and referred to by all members involved in the processes of conserving and changing the building. The involved parties are: Battersea Arts Centre, English Heritage, Wandsworth Borough Council and Haworth Tompkins architects (refer to Appendix 9 for a full project directory).
Ownership of the Plan – who is responsible for implementing it The conservation statement is directed at a wide readership and will be of use and interest to anyone working in and using the building. Sections of the statement setting out specific policies should be regularly referred to by all those who make decisions concerning the building. The statement must be available, therefore, to all BAC staff and any contractors working on the building.
All stakeholders involved in the project will be required to officially adopt this conservation statement and support the aspirations and management principles outlined herein. The responsibility for implementing the policies set out in this statement in their future collaborations is both BAC’s and Haworth Tompkins’. The BAC Head of Production & Premises, Richard Couldrey, is the first point of contact for anyone referring to this document.
The statement will develop strategies that are in accordance with and complementary to The Planning Policy Guidance (PPG15) Planning and the Historic Environment.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Space team meetings and Fuzzy Surgeries
11 1. Understanding
The Place
Battersea Arts Centre occupies a one acre site, situated on Lavender Hill in the south- Figure 1 west London borough of Wandsworth. One of the largest of the inner London boroughs, Wandsworth occupies an area south of the Thames of more than thirteen square miles. Figure 4 Wandsworth comprises the old towns of Battersea, Balham, Earlsfield, Southfields, Putney, Roehampton and Tooting and has a population of about 280,000 inhabitants.
For centuries Battersea was a small riverside village, rather inaccessible from London. It grew rapidly with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century. Battersea originally consisted of several distinct areas: the original village around Battersea Square, the crossroads that would become known as Clapham Junction, the upmarket area between Figure 2 Clapham and Wandsworth Commons and the industrial district of Nine Elms.
Towards the end of the 19th century Battersea had become one urban sprawl. New industry and an influx of workers from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the North meant the area became a thriving industrial centre. Land which was previously open was taken up by four railway companies, their sidings and workshops. The riverside windmills and wharves gave way to new industries, such as Price’s Candles, Morgan’s Crucible works, Carton’s Glucose factory, flour mills, breweries and the Nine Elms Gas Works. With the opening of Clapham Junction Station in 1863, the focus of Battersea changed from the riverside to St. John’s Hill and St. John’s Road, which became the main commercial centre.
By 1891 Battersea had a high population of over 150,000 inhabitants and the year 1900 saw Battersea’s population reach its peak with the area become a borough under the London Government Act of 1899 (Stanley Jo, Battersea Old Town hall 1893-1993, Oral Historian in Residence, BAC 1993). The Act created 28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London, replacing vestries as the second tier of local government. Further changes came in the form of the 1963 London Government Act, which reformed London’s 83 Metropolitan boroughs, dissolving them into the Greater London Council and 32 London Boroughs. Consequently in 1965, Battersea Borough became part of Wandsworth Borough Council.
Battersea as a built environment stayed relatively unchanged until the Second World War, in which bombings destroyed and damaged many buildings. After the War a large area of north Battersea was swept away in a vast re-building plan of the borough and the county councils, changing the old face of Battersea (text from Wandsworth Borough Council’s website (http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/LeisureandTourism/ Aboutborough/abthistory.htm#battersea).
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1
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1. Ordnance Survey map showing Town Hall pre WWII
1 - Battersea Town Hall 2 - Shakespeare Theatre, destroyed by WWII bomb damage 3 - Battersea Central Library, architect also E.W.Mountford 4 - Clapham Junction
2. Clapham Junction railway tracks, c. 1907
3. Lavender Hill, c. 1926
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The Architect Born in 1855 in Warwickshire, E. W. Mountford began his architectural career in 1871 as a clerk of works for Habershon and Pite in London (for a more detailed biography of E.W. Mountford refer to Appendix 2). In 1876 he became principal assistant to Percy Elkington and Sons and in 1879 to Giles and Gough. The following year he set up his own practice. His early work consisted largely of churches, church schools and rectories, Figure 1 many of them in Wandsworth.
In 1888 Mountford built his first public building, the Battersea Public Library on Lavender Figure 3 Hill choosing an ‘Early French Renaissance’ style. Much of Mountford’s subsequent work was won in competitions and consisted of public buildings such as town halls, municipal buildings, technical colleges and schools. His first major success was Sheffield Town Hall (1890-97), again in Early French Renaissance style.
In 1891 the elected administrators of the parish, the Vestry of the Parish of St Mary, decided it was necessary to build a Town Hall. Following the purchase of a suitable site, the Elm House estate on Lavender Hill, a competition was held with 24 architects invited to submit plans. Edward Mountford, an architect who had completed several buildings locally, was chosen from the 12 entrants.
Mountford was later involved in one of the numerous re-buildings of the Old Bailey, Figure 2 opened by King Edward VII in 1907. Mountford designed the dome of the Old Bailey to mirror that of the nearby St Paul’s.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Battersea Polytechnic, Great Hall, c. 1905
2. The Old Bailey
3. Illustration of the main entrance, Inauguration day programme, 1893 4. Battersea Central Library, c. 1914
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Context of town halls and Victorian style Tristram Hunt writing on Victorian civic pride explains the erection of so many of the country’s town halls during this era:
Central to this concern with the urban environment was a sense of self-government. The Victorian cities of the 1850s and 1860s really did regard themselves in the same vein as the Italian city republics of the 1400s or the Hanseatic League. Today it is hard to get a sense of the provincial autonomy in that era that produced the intense civic pride and urban rivalry that saw Birmingham Town Hall trumped by Liverpool St. George’s Hall, whose glory was stolen by Bradford St. George’s Hall, which was in turn trumped by Leeds Town Hall. Hunt, Tristram, The rise and fall of the Victorian city, 9 May 2005, CABE lecture.
The Victorian age reacted to the Classical style of the previous century and saw a return to traditional British styles of building, Tudor and mock Gothic being among the most popular. It was a romantic yearning for the traditional, comforting past. Most popular architectural styles were throwbacks, Tudor, Medieval, Italianate. In later Victorian times, however, the pendulum swung and styles became simpler, turning towards more traditional vernacular models such as the English farmhouse. This period is typified by the work of many well-known architects such as Norman Shaw, one of Mountford’s contemporaries.
Victorian town halls broadly fell into two categories, those that acted solely as municipal administrative centres, housing offices and council chambers and those that also had halls to serve the wider, often recreational, needs of the parish. Built in Early French Renaissance style, it is not difficult to imagine Mountford’s Sheffield Town Hall Figure 1 (constructed between 1890 and 1894), competing in the race to trump the other grand Town Halls of the day.
Battersea, however, although it displays some grand internal features, is a different case. Serving a new parish within the larger context of the City of London, Battersea Town Hall Figure 2 was a smaller and more modest endeavour. The lack of grandeur about the exterior of the building is due to its scale and budget but can also be seen to demonstrate an important shift in taste towards less ornate architectural language.
The assimilation of elements of the popular Neo-Renaissance style into what the architect described as ‘English Renaissance’ is most evident on the principal Lavender Hill façade. Figure 3 Battersea Town Hall’s principle façade is Italianate in style, with stone ionic columns and pediments. The other elevations are less so, being simpler in composition their design nods clearly towards the emerging simpler and more vernacular, Arts and Crafts movement.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Sheffield Town Hall Principal Staircase 2. Battersea Town Hall Principal Staircase
3. Lavender Hill elevation, The Builder, 1891
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The Building The following section describes the building as Battersea Town Hall in 1893. The descriptions draw on the text and illustrations in the Inauguration day programme (BAC recently reverted to using many of the original 19th century Town Hall names and some more recent names for the various rooms and spaces in the building. These names will be used in the following descriptions and can be located on the plans in Appendix 12). Following this is a summary of the many changes, which have taken place to the building over the years; numerous accretions, which have clogged up the building and often detract from Mountford’s original vision.
Coinciding with the opening of the building, an article in The Builder in 1893, published illustrations and discussed the architectural ideas behind the design. Mountford described the design as essentially English Renaissance, although added that it was perhaps treated somewhat freely. Mountford said of his design:
The Principle features of the plan are: Figure 1 • The good approaches to all parts of the building, especially the public hall • The corridors are wide and well lighted from the central court, while the principle staircase and entrance are lighted from above • The compactness and convenient arrangement of offices for various parish purposes • The prominent position assigned to the council chamber and the accompanying committee rooms and member’s library • The means of completely disconnecting the public hall and its accessories from the other parts of the building, when let out for bazaars and other purposes • The thoroughly well lighting of every part of the building.
The building comprises two main parts; the Municipal building to the south, which housed the Council Chamber and offices and the Grand Hall building to the North,which catered for recreational events, bazaars and lectures. This clear division of the massing directly related to its intended function. One of the strengths of the building as stated by Mountford is the ability to completely disconnecting the public hall and its ancillary spaces from the other parts of the building when used for bazaars and other purposes.
The unique character of the site is its shift in height and orientation, evident in the kink in plan. The site drops in level across the building’s length from the south (Lavender Hill) to the north (Town Hall Road) by approximately 5.6 meters. The site changes direction, roughly half way down its length. To the north and west of the site residential houses terrace the adjacent streets, continuing the slope down to the north. To the east the building is flanked by Town Hall Road, which falls within the leasehold of BAC as a private road; the adjoining pavement remains a public right of way.
Although consisting of two distinct volumes, the building forms one complete block within the context of the urban plan. It presents a continuous, unbroken, façade to the surrounding four streets. The principal façade on Lavender Hill works within the scale of
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Grand Hall building Municipal Building
1. Ground Floor plan and East elevation, The Builder, 1891
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the adjacent buildings to lessen the impression of the actual size of the building. When Figure 1 viewed from a distance, however, from the train on approach to Clapham Junction, its scale as a prominent local landmark becomes apparent; the old lady of Battersea, as the Figure 2 building was sometimes referred to, rises out of the terraced hillside.
The Town Hall was constructed swiftly, in less than two years. Contractors W. Wallis of Balham were appointed on June 1 1892. They were contracted to erect the building for £26,258. The whole building and its contents had a target cost of £42,000. No firm figures as to the final cost of the building have been found. The inauguration day programme claims that the build was on budget despite several enhancements to the design being made during construction, including the substitution of stone for marble in the Grand Staircase and an increase in the seating capacity of the Grand Hall. A sealed bottle containing the details of the events of the inauguration day was placed inside the foundation stones of Devonshire marble at the foot of the Principal Staircase.
The Municipal (front) building
The elevations are of red Suffolk bricks and Monks Park (Bath) stone with roofs of Westmoreland slates, the roof turrets being constructed of oak covered with copper and surmounted by wrought iron. Inauguration Day programme, 1893.
The principal façade on Lavender Hill is the most formal of the building’s elevations; it was the public face of the municipality and uses the most Bath stone. The main entrance is in the centre of this elevation and is covered by a semi-circular portico. Originally the façade served to announce the importance of the building as a local place of governance. Due to its scale, matched in height by the buildings around it, it is not overly imposing. The Listing description describes it as ambitiously treated with Ionic columns, three shaped pediments and figure sculpture (refer to Appendix 4 for the full EH listing description).
It is here that the Victorian sense of pride in local government is most powerfully expressed. Two pediments depict the figures of, respectively, Labour and Progress (east), Art and Literature (west) instructing a youthful figure representing the municipality of Battersea. In the central pediment is the Battersea coat of arms and crest supported by figures representing Justice and Prudence, whilst on the spandrels beneath can be seen the subjects of Government and Entertainment. The importance placed on education and recreational pleasures is also expressed in these carvings, as pertinent to the life of the building today as they were in Victorian times.
The Municipal building has a footprint of approximately 1500 m². It comprises two main floors, the ground and first floor, a part basement and the south east wing which has a second floor level. The equivalent area in the south west wing is void roof space. The three main elements of this building are simple in arrangement with the front block
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Illustration of Principal facade, The Builder, 1893
2. View from train to Clapham Junction of BAC
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housing the Council chamber and Entrance Hall and two roughly symmetrical side wings housing offices, both flanking a central Court.
The main entrance off Lavender Hill leads from the Vestibule into the Entrance Hall where a large, ‘imperial’ marble staircase is situated, the Grand Staircase. The treads of the staircase are made from Sicilian marble with the risers and handrail of Devonshire Figure 2 marble and balusters of Devonshire spar. The names of the dignitaries involved with the building were cut by hand into the large red corner stones of the staircase.
A stone arcade surrounds the three sides of the staircase on the first floor. The gallery has Figure 3 a groined ceiling and a balustrade of Devonshire marble like the staircase. The ceiling above this airy double height volume is a large panelled roof light with moulded ribs and glazed panels. The original glazing would have consisted of tinted glass. Around the perimeter to the roof light is a decorative gold and blue frieze of fibrous plaster, depicting cherubs holding garlands, modelled by Mr. Gilbert Seale.
The floors of the Vestibule, Entrance Hall and Gallery are of Battersea glass mosaic, made and laid by the Vitreous Mosaic Co. Leading from the Entrance Hall are two corridors, one on each side of the Grand Staircase, each 8 feet in width and enclosing a central courtyard from which they are lighted. These corridors have also the Vitreous Mosaic paving. The left or Western corridor leads to the General Office, the Vestry Clerk’s private offices, Rating, Assessment, &c. Office, Trade Accountant’s Office and the Rate Collecting Hall, this latter being a fine room nearly twenty feet in height. The right or Eastern corridor communicates with Surveyor’s General, Private and Drawing Offices and the Offices of the Medical Officer and the Sanitary Officers, the two latter having separate entrances from Town Hall Road. The doors to all of these rooms are of oak and the mantel pieces and fittings throughout (which have been specially made by the builder from the Architect’s designs) are of mahogany and basswood. Inauguration Day Programme, 1893; see Appendix 02 for full transcript.
The resplendent Council Chamber is situated on the first floor above the main entrance and entered from the gallery leading off the Grand Staircase. From the second floor of the south-east wing the public balcony of the Chamber can be reached. The Chamber is a large room with an arched ceiling of over seven meters in height. The walls are paneled in oak and the arched ceiling elaborately decorated with a plaster frieze. To the centre of the internal front elevation double doors opens onto the balcony, on the portico roof of the main entrance.
The suite of offices on the first floor included the mayor’s parlour, a banqueting hall with a huge fireplace (it became the treasurer’s department…) and the Council members’ library, with mantelpieces made of Russet marble and Hopeton Wood stone, made in Bakewell, there were also committee rooms and offices. Stanley Jo, Battersea Old Town hall 1893-1993, Historian in Residence, 1993.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Pediment carvings, The Builder, 1893
2. Illustration of the Grand Staircase, Inauguration Day Programme, 1893 3. First floor vaulted arcade
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The second floor of the south-east wing was designed as a domestic quarter for a live-in caretaker and subsequently a Town Hall nurse and her assistant also lived there. There are three original dormer windows that light these spaces, adding a sense of domesticity to the exterior. There is access to a central roof void containing a raised walkway from which the main roof turret can be accessed. This guarded timber walkway leads to a further room at the other end of the wing.
The building was heated by a low-pressure hot water system and coal fires, laid by a porter in the early morning and replenished by staff throughout the day. Electric bells and speaking tubes were installed by Freeman Brothers of York road, for the tiny number of staff to talk to each other. The contractor, Mr Wallis, supplied office fittings. Carpets and furniture came from Arding & Hobbs. The Vertmarche, high-power gas lamps were fitted by City firms, according to the souvenir brochure. Stanley Jo, Battersea Old Town hall 1893-1993, Oral Historian in Residence, BAC 1993.
Grand Hall building
It is proposed to use the Halls for public Meetings of Ratepayers in connection with the election of Vestrymen, which are very largely attended and for which there is, at present, no adequate accommodation, and for the other purposes of public interest to the ratepayers, there being, in the opinion if the Vestry, a great need of such accommodation in this large and important district. The Halls will also be let in similar manner to Halls in other parts of the Metropolis, for Concerts, Bazaars, Debating Societies, University Extension Lectures and Recreative entertainments of a high- class for the people, all such uses being conducive to the well-being of the inhabitants. Inauguration Day Programme, 1893.
The footprint of the Grand Hall building is approximately 1260 m² and comprises the Lower Hall at Basement level, the Octagonal Hall and the Grand Hall on the Ground floor. There is a gallery in the Grand Hall giving access to the roof above the Octagonal Hall and circulation spaces. The main entrance is through two stone arches half way down Town
Hall Road. Leading from the main entrance is the Octagonal Hall, consisting of eight Figure 2 arches supported off marble pillars, surmounted by a delicate glass dome of a timber frame and leaded lights. A garden themed pattern adorns the glass in yellow hues. The floor of the hall is also the beautiful Vitreous glass mosaic tiles. Adjacent to the Hall is an elegant double height ancillary room with large rooflight and decorative plaster frieze. Upon a background of oak and vine leaves in the octagonal Hall, the frieze above the arches contains the following quotation from Shakespeare (Richard II., Act I. Scene I.):
“The purest treasure mortal times afford, Is spotless reputation ; that away, Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.” “Mine honour is my life ; both grow in one.”
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Illustration of the Council Chamber, Inauguration day programme, 1893
2. The Octagonal Hall 3. The Grand Hall
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The Grand Hall is an impressive 4000 m³ volume with an arched ceiling of over 10.5 meters in height. The ceiling is adorned with plaster mouldings and decorative ventilation grilles. Round the proscenium arch of the stage is an elaborate fibrous plaster frieze, decorated with crests and insignia. The Hall is flanked on both sides by two wide corridors, containing four sets of double doors each, giving access to the Hall. Arches along the length of these generous and day lit corridors add to their elegance. Stairs from the western corridor lead the gallery and roof level.
To the exterior of the Grand Hall building, brick buttresses flank its large pitched roof. Arched windows, echoing those of the front building, punctuate the elevations at high level, flooding the hall with daylight. Occasional stone ionic columns decorate on the Town Hall entrance side, which is clearly demarcated by a decorative cast iron canopy and a leaded glass sign reading ‘Grand Hall’. Theatre Street elevation is less ornate but equally elegant with a large brick chimney rising from the basement. The rear entrance to the Grand Hall building is off Theatre Street by two double doors into the Atrium, a top lit hexagonal entrance hall.
Developments to the built fabric since 1893 The orderly arrangement and well-lit spaces of Mountford’s original design have undergone many incremental additions over the years. Most of these date from before the building Figure 1 was listed in 1970 and some from after. A former director of BAC at the time of the centenary of the building, said of the 1993 restoration:
The 60’s, 70’s and 80’s saw a motley assortment of internal carbuncles, ‘rationalisations’, unsympathetic sign boards attached to the front of the building and hideous 70’s lamp posts replaced their elegant Victorian predecessors. Slowly, painstakingly these have been removed.
The following is a summary of the major changes that have occurred to the building since 1893. For a more detailed list please refer to Appendix 7. For a chronology of all the Planning Applications and Listed Building Consents, which have been granted over the years, as recorded by WBC, refer to Appendix 8.
Just six years after the building was opened pressures from its inhabitants were already affecting the built fabric. Plans dating from 1900 show clearly, with areas highlighted in red, how the Kitchen to the Grand Hall was added on the Ground floor level, windows to the corridors filled in and the adjacent Gentleman’s Cloak Room extended, encroaching on much of the north side of the courtyard. The Red stairwell was added to the rear of the kitchen giving access to the Ladies Retiring and Refreshment Room on the First floor. The plans also highlight the stairs and New Landing to the Town Clerk’s offices in the municipal building. It was evidently felt that the Principal Staircase did not fulfil all the circulation requirements.
An organ, designed by the organ pioneer Robert Hope-Jones was added to the Grand
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Diagram showing changes to built fabric on Ground floor
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Hall in 1900. This occupies the central area to he rear of the raised stage and also the wall areas to either side of the stage, adjacent to the proscenium. A fan room on the Lower Hall level serves the pipes of the organ. Hope-Jones later emigrated to America where his ideas were taken up by the Rudolph Wurlitzer company and incorporated into Wurlitzer Theatre organs. Although originally a telephone engineer Hope-Jones was a prolific inventor and also became an expert in the field of harmonics, tonal structure, pipe making and electrics.
The BAC 0rgan is almost definitely the largest and most original example of Hope-Jones’ work that survives in this country. It was built under he name of the company he was working for at the time, Norman & Beard but the style, tonal designs and specifications are very typically Hope-Jones. Whilst t had a few minor changes after it was built it is almost entirely as Hope-Jones left it as far as we can ascertain and a good deal of it still work safer a fashion, although years of neglect have taken their toll on the instrument. Information taken from Wandsworth Council Counterpart Lease of Battersea Arts Centre to BAC, see Appendix 15 for the full Condition report, schedule of works for restoration.
BAC have recently had restoration works carried out to the organ which is now operational again. Ian Bell, a professional Organ advisor will continue to work with BAC on the ongoing restoration.
Plans by the Borough Surveyor, dated October 1925, show the building relatively unchanged since the previous plans, but with a proposal to extend the second floor of the Municipal building creating new office spaces, extending the flight of stairs added in 1900 and even adding a third floor to the south east wing. These changes were never carried out and only the original second floor to the southeast wing exists today. The Refreshment room, to the top of the Red stairwell on the first floor of the southwest wing was by now referred to as a Banqueting Hall.
Plans dating from 1934 show the fundamental layout of the building almost as it is now with the exception of partitions in the Banqueting Hall and toilets in the West corridor. The staircase has already been added within the Banqueting Hall to the western corridor. This space had become the Treasurer’s Department with an additional Treasurer’s Office partitioned off within it. Partitions have also appeared and are proposed within the suite of offices on the first floor in the southeast wing. The roof to the rear of the Grand Hall shows a Cinema Operating projection room, which is since unchanged although the projecting rooms are not used for the Hall today.
The Grand Hall gallery is not shown on the original Mountford ground floor plan dating from 1891, although stairs are labelled clearly as leading to the Grand Hall gallery and it is described in the Inauguration Day Programme as increasing the capacity of the Hall. On plans dating from 1934 the balcony is shown as having a straight front, supported on two columns from the ground floor. It now consists of a curving, timber panelled front with a central clock and appears to date from the fifties, although no records of the
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Diagram showing changes to built fabric on First floor
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changes made to the balcony have been found. It is thought that the original balcony would have been narrower with a straight front.
The spaces of the building have proven highly adaptable during the building’s time as a community centre and since 1980 as BAC. The major changes have been the conversion of the Council Chamber to the Main House theatre space, with the public gallery becoming part of the auditorium. The former Town Clerk’s office became a smaller studio theatre, known as Studio 1 in 1985. The old Borough’s Surveyor office became the café and the Surveyor’s Drawing office became first a Cinema and subsequently Studio 2. The Main House and two studio theatres were painted with black emulsion to create the effect of ‘Black box’ theatres, all other interventions have been limited, restricted by lack of funding. The original oak panelling and plaster mouldings remain intact under the black paint in the Council Chamber.
The exterior of the building has undergone some minor changes over the years but none that have significantly damaged the building’s appearance. At some point the second door to the Rates Collecting Hall on Theatre Street was bricked in, possibly when it lost that function, certainly by the thirties. In 1983 the floor level of the Lavender Hill portico was raised by the addition of an extra step and a ramp was built in an effort to provide better access. Also during BAC’s occupation of the building the entrance to Studio 1 was created on Theatre Street, arguably the second largest intervention to the exterior of the building with the main alteration being the addition of an entrance door on the North elevation to serve the Lower Hall. In 1992 repairs to the stonework of the portico, cupola and 2 front most chimney stacks were carried out. Various signs and poster boards have come and gone over the years of BAC’s residence and the latest sign, installed in 2004, consists of 9 red, internally illuminated plastic ‘cubes’ projecting from the balcony above the entrance (refer to Appendix 08 for a full list of Planning and Listed Building consents as recorded by WBC).
To the interior the beautiful ‘bee’ mosaic has survived the century intact. It is in good condition, despite attempts in the 1960s to modernise the building, including the laying of some concrete ‘podium’ floors, which covered up the mosaic for almost 30 years. This was also rectified in the early 90s during the programme of restoration work. Before 1972 the second floor of the south-east wing was converted for use as offices, divided up by several partition walls. A control room for the main house and a photographic suite were also added before this date. The second floor of the south-west wing remains a roof void as originally constructed despite ambition plans in 1925 to convert to office space.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. 1899 plans showing extension of building into the Court
2. 1925 plans showing proposal to develop south west wing second floor
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Development of the building as BAC The centenary of the building in 1993 was celebrated with a three-day re-enactment of the inauguration of 1893. As well as commissioning the work of the oral historian BAC and WBC raised £150,000 to renovate certain elements of the building, including the Principal Stair and Vitreous mosaic floor. The emphasis on the building’s history as a Town Hall has long been key to the organisation’s programme. The centenary celebrations appear to have marked the beginning for the interdependence between the building and the organisation. This relationship owes as much to BAC’s acknowledgement of the Town Hall as an historical treasure as it does to the suitability of the architecture as a public venue for the arts.
The history of the building continues to increase in significance for BAC. The inspirational affect it has on artists who develop work there is evident through site-specific productions Figure 1 like MORD. One of BAC’s long-term development aims for the building is an overall recourse to the authentic roots of the Victorian architecture. There is possibly no better way to celebrate the history of the building than to experience it as it was in a former phase of its evolution.
The preliminary report of a feasibility study, carried out by Haworth Tompkins for BAC in 2007, proposed a new way of working to transform the building over a period of years in close collaboration with BAC artists and staff. A series of ‘Playground projects’ were planned as a means to investigate the most appropriate design choices for BAC. Each production will inform the strategic decisions made for the long-term development of the building and each performance is geared to explore different aspects of the architecture, various themes and engage with different audiences. Possibly the most influential aspect of a playground project is that it takes place across the whole of the building, opening up spaces in the Town Hall never previously used by artists or seen by an audience.
When attempting to open up as much of the building as possible for use during the recent Playground project BAC worked hard to find alternative ways of providing an equivalent experience for a wide group of people. It did not, however, prove possible to provide full access to all members of the public. An example of this alternative and inventive approach was the use of so-called ‘Travellers’, BAC staff acting as guides who accompanied members of the audience throughout the show to ensure their safety, allowing blind members of the public to attend the production. Travellers would respond to the wishes of the blind person, aiding them when requested. Participants deemed this approach very successful and some have recorded their experiences in writing.
The idea of Playgrounding is evolving as the collaboration with architects and artists continues. Playgrounding has become a general approach to using the building, a way of testing, at an early stage, ideas for change or development. It is the Space activity strand’s equivalent to Theatre’s Scratch. Scratch is the process which BAC employ, allowing artists to test their ideas infront of an audience early on and hear their feedback.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Grand Hall during MORD
2. The Principal Staircase
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The social context and key players in the establishment of BAC Battersea Arts Centre has essentially led, and still does to some extent, a double life. Its original purpose, for 81 years, was that of a distinguished municipal administration centre, proudly leading the people of Battersea in their civic duties but also caring for their recreational needs. Its second, adopted occupation as an Arts Centre has for 34 years also been providing the local community with activities and entertainment.
From 1893, the building was used for over 70 years as council chambers, holding borough meetings, elections and discussions - it was a key focal point essential to the legislative activities within the borough. During both world wars the building was a recruiting station and administrative centre and between 1914 and 1918 it was also used as a conscientious objectors’ tribunal site.
During the Second World War the building became an Air Raid Precautions centre, site for rationing control and distributing gas masks and the lower hall was used as an air raid shelter. Its history as a home for the arts began in the early 1900’s when the Grand and Lower Halls staged talent contests, traditional jazz performances and musical evenings, taking over the role of the bombed Shakespeare Theatre as a music hall venue for a period during the 1950’s.
When the 1963 London Government Act reformed London’s 83 Metropolitan boroughs, dissolving them into the Greater London Council and 32 London Boroughs, Battersea Borough became part of Wandsworth Borough Council in 1965. The building was, therefore, stripped of its role as an administration centre. The municipal building became partially unused, with the exception of the Grand and Lower Halls, which continued to hold dances, shows, music, bazaars, wedding receptions and an array of other community events.
The Town Hall building, like BAC the organization, has had to fight hard over its history to Figure 1 survive. In 1967, Wandsworth Borough Council announced that the building’s Victorian frontage was to be demolished, to make room for a recreation centre and library. However residents of Battersea demonstrated a deep loyalty towards the building, expressing great public concern with a protest led by the Battersea and Victorian Societies, backed by the Poet Laureate John Betjeman, appealing to the Greater London Council for a preservation order to be placed on the building.
This led to an appeal for a building preservation order to be placed on the building (South London Press, 22nd September 1967). An open letter was written from the Battersea Society to Wandsworth Council, challenging them to debate their plans for the Town Hall in public (South Western Star, 21st July 1967). At the recommendation of the Housing Minister, who was advised by specialists that the building should be listed as one of particular architectural and historic interest, Anthony Greenwood asked the Council to reconsider their proposals, which they did providing that a use for the building was found. By 1970 the building had gained its Grade II* listed status and in 1974 it
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Proposal for new recreation centre and library, WBC, 1967
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became a community arts centre run by Wandsworth Council in the existing building.
The building came under threat of closure again in 1979 when Wandsworth Council decided to close the Arts centre as part of a wide-ranging programme of expenditure cuts. A campaign was formed by representatives from the arts world and the local community, the Friends of Battersea Arts Centre, chaired by Battersea’s current MP Martin Linton. It was agreed that the arts centre would become an independent organisation with the Borough Council providing an annual grant to cover part of the costs of operating the centre. In 1980 the Battersea Arts Centre re-opened under the artistic directorship of Jude Kelly. Renovations were made inside the building, transforming former council chambers into theatre, studio, workshop and gallery spaces. In 1993, the building’s centenary year marked with a weekend of celebrations, BAC took over the running of the Grand and Lower Halls.
BAC believes that the Old Town Hall has a particular and electric effect on the imagination of artists working there. They are continually inspired by the unique and beautiful spaces of the building and its history.
Because we are in this funny, old, faintly awkward Victorian town hall, it’s created this enormous energy. David Jubb, Artistic Director BAC, Theatrevoice.
Part of BAC’s mission ‘to invent the future of theatre’ must be to understand its heritage, both artistic and architectural. The desire to invent the future of theatre comes simply as a development in a long line of radicalism that has been handed down by the building itself. Although its function has changed since it was built in 1893, something of the spirit of the outsider, the avant-garde, has been visible in all of its occupants, even those who lived on the site before the Town Hall was built. The Town Hall was home to the first black mayor of a metropolitan district, the first Communist MP, it was one of the first venues in the country to play silent films; it was the home of the Caribbean Ska music scene and played a major role in the suffragette movement.
Since 1980 BAC has arguably become Britain’s most influential theatre. Lyn Gardner, The Guardian.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The cloakroom in MORD during construction
2. Working in the dark room prior to MORD
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Battersea Arts Centre Today - Cultural significance of BAC Since its inception, BAC has had six different Artistic Directors. Previous Artistic Directors have included Jude Kelly, now Artistic Director of the South Bank Centre, and Tom Morris, Associate Director of the National Theatre. It was during Tom Morris’ time at BAC, together with the current Artistic Directors David Jubb and David Micklem, that the Scratch Ladder model was developed. This remains fundamental to how BAC commissions and creates work.
BAC is a unique theatre with a wonderful, eclectic identity. It has provided support and space for a whole range of innovative artists who have been able to develop and breathe there. It was an invaluable place for me early on in my career, where I ran writers’ workshops, did a youth theatre show and finally my professional debut, Ian Rickson, Director.
BAC is committed to supporting artists to develop new work. The organisation has developed a unique system, centred on the process of scratching work. Scratch enables Figure 1 artists to test ideas in front of an audience and listen to their feedback. Artists, staff and audiences collaborate to invent a radical and exciting new vision tor theatre. BAC’s scratch model has now been adopted all over the world from the Royal Court’s Rough Cuts to Sydney Opera House’s Scratch Nights. In 2006 five shows that had developed via BAC Scratch won over 25% of available theatre awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The different rungs on BAC’s Ladder of Development:
1. Scratch Nights. A cabaret style evening where a few artists present no more than 10mins of material at a very early stage of its development. The audience pays what it can, gets to see three or four of these embryonic theatrical ideas over the course of the evening and has a chance to give feedback to the artists in the Café Bar afterwards. BAC runs Freshly Scratched events three times a year (January, July and October) – a chance for artists who have never worked at BAC before to try out the Scratch process.
2. Two or three night runs of Scratch Performances. A company / artist presents a rough draft of a show (usually 40 minutes – 1 hour). Ticket prices are low. A lot of the audience is made up of friends of the artists and BAC staff. Again the audience is invited to the Café Bar to give feedback.
3. Two or three night runs of Showcase Performances. Usually presented in the context of one of BAC’s annual festivals. Here the work is marketed to a wider audience and funders/other programmers who can further the development of the work and the artist.
4. Three week runs of Showcase Performances. These runs can happen at any
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Flyer for Scratch performances during BURST festival
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time of the year. Reviews from the national press are actively sought and BAC staff work closely with artists to reach existing and new audiences. 5. The work moves on. Artists explore national and international touring potential for the work.
Our culture would be seriously impoverished without BAC - a whole generation of young theatre makers would be left homeless. Katie Mitchell.
Artists who have developed work through the Scratch Ladder have included: Cheek by Jowl (theatre company Barbican, National Theatre), Complicite (international theatre company, Barbican, National Theatre), David Farr (Artistic Director, Lyric Hammersmith), Kneehigh Theatre (International Cornish Theatre company), David Glass Ensemble, Ian Rickson (ex Artistic Director, Royal Court), Improbable (Theatre company, ENO, New York Met, National Theatre), Will Adamsdale (Jackson’s Way won the Perrier Award), Jerry Springer the Opera (created by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, transferred to the National and then to the West End), League of Gentlemen (South Bank, NME and Bafta Awards), Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain (Bafta, National Television and South Bank Awards), Harry Hill (comedian, Rose d’Or Award), Stewart Lee, French and Saunders (comedians British Comedy Award Lifetime Achievement), Graham Norton (Comedian and TV Chat Show host), Steve Coogan (comedian, I’m Alan Partridge), Daniel Kitson, Shared Experience, Tom Morris (Associate Director, National Theatre), Jude Kelly (Artistic Director of South Bank Centre and Chair of the Arts, Culture and Education Committee as part of London’s 2012 bid), Mike Figgis (Hollywood film director, The Sopranos), Mitchell and Webb (comedians and stars of Peep Show) Paul Merton (comedian Have I Got News For You), Neil Bartlett (write and director), Nigel Kennedy (violinist and BRIT Award winner), Patrick Marber (write of Closer, Notes on a Scandal), DV8 (international dance company), Bijan Sheibani (Artistic Director of ATC, JMK winner), Natalie Abrahami (joint Artistic Director of The Gate), Thea Sharrock (directing in the West End) and Toby Jones (actor).
Most of my artistic collaborations have begun by strolling into that bar on Lavender Hill, not on Sunset Boulevard. Toby Jones, actor.
Artists that begin at BAC on a Scratch Night go on to populate The National, The Barbican, The Royal Opera House and other venues nationally and internationally.
BAC is the vital adventurous creative well-spring of so much that is exciting about the theatre. Quite apart from its excellence as a venue and its hospitable flexibility, it has in recent years provided a whole generation of theatre makers without whom more established venues like the National would quickly atrophy. Its loss would be a crushing blow. Nick Hytner, Artistic Director, National Theatre.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. BAC staff offices
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Current artistic programme When BAC decided to open up the building for The Masque of the Red Death (MORD), Figure 1-3 the changes in use of space were mirrored in the artistic programme. Previously BAC operated three separate strands: Theatre, Participate and Events. Theatre and Participate used the front half of the building and Events used the back half. When the iron doors between the front and back of the building were unlocked, the organisation began thinking of the whole building as belonging to everyone. This required a seismic shift in how the building was programmed. The current artistic programme is still made up three key strands, but these are now programmed together. Making Theatre, Participate and Events coincide is a fundamental part of BAC’s mission to invent the future of theatre.
BAC and Punchdrunk’s recent co-production, MORD was inspired by the architecture of the Old Town Hall and designed to allow the audience and artists free range over as much of the building as possible. MORD ran for 7 months and played to almost 50,000 audience members. During Masque of the Red Death many members of the Punchdrunk company took part in running After Hours workshops for local residents and some returned to lead a term of the Youth Theatre Programme (YPT). Also during The Masque of the Red Death, YPT created a piece for one of the commission spaces embedded in the show, which was of such a high standard that the producing team decided to re-programme it when the run was extended.
One of the best things to happen to the theatre in the last ten years. The Observer on MORD.
BURST is BAC’s annual flagship festival in the springtime. BURST brings together young companies with their first show, legendary companies trying out something new, international artists on their first trip to Britain. During the last BURST Festival 2008 a piece of work about age, performed by an Austrian dance company, brought to BAC a cast of nine, all aged between 65 and 87. On the same day the events team programmed a tea dance in the Grand Hall. These dances have a strong local following and have been taking place in the Grand Hall for decades. The Austrian artists joined the local Wandsworth participants for an afternoon of dancing in the Grand Hall, creating a moment in which the boundaries between theatre and event, audience and artist, the past and present of BAC and even cultural differences all but disappeared.
In the summer BAC programmes a series of work focused on young artists. The main studio spaces are occupied with drama school showcases, managed by the events team. This is followed by a curated festival called The Graduates. For this festival the producing team travel to select pieces of work from Graduate showcases all over England. Artists and companies selected for The Graduates are given space, time and financial support to develop and stage their work in London. For many companies this is the all-important first step towards a career in theatre.
Developing new work and young artists is at the core of BAC’s programme and mission
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Artists during MORD
2. Artist during MORD 3. Compère of the Palais Royale during MORD
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to invent the future of theatre. The Scratch ladder of development is therefore the backbone of the programme and BAC are always finding new ways of incorporating the principles of Scratch into the programme. In February 2008 BAC hosted a series of Inspiration Weeks on Family, Sport and Climate Change, bringing together an eclectic group of artists and experts to discuss the issues surrounding these themes.
The Scratch Festival in the autumn will be based on these themes and artists will be given the chance to pick any space in the building that inspires them to explore with family, climate change or sport as inspiration.
‘Participate’ is at the very heart of BAC’s mission to invent the future of theatre. BAC’s Figure 1 award winning Participate Programme offers people of all ages the opportunity to get involved with the theatre making process. It happens at BAC, throughout the borough of Wandsworth and beyond. The Schools’ Programme offers creative opportunities for 2500 children and their teachers every year. The Outreach Programme targets teenagers at risk of exclusion or involvement in crime and works in collaboration with Wandsworth Youth Service and Youth Offending teams.
The Young People’s Theatre Programme brings together over 200 young people aged 12 to 25 each year with BAC’s leading artists to create and present new theatre at BAC. The After Hours Programme is led by BAC artists from a broad range of disciplines and offers weekend and evening workshops for all adults aged 18 and over. Over 1000 Wandsworth Children and young people have benefited from free tickets to see shows at BAC in 2007.
The structure of the institution and management information BAC has five directors: Joint Artstic Directors (& Joint Chief Executives); Executive Director; Participate Director; Finance Director. They are supported by a Senior Management team of seven, drawn from across all the departments at BAC. They in turn have teams of officers, assistants and interns.
BAC runs all its work through four strands: Theatre, Participate, Events and Space. Since Playground Projects began BAC has been on a journey of reconciliation to bring these four strands together. As part of seeing the whole building as one unified space it has become important not to divide the programme between the four strands. Each one of these plays an equally significant role in the life of BAC. Programming meetings now take place with representatives of all four strands and all activity is planned in conversation with one another.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Flyer for BAC Beatbox Academy performances during BURST
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Commercial activities – catering, venue hire Events such as weddings, Ceilidhs, tea-dances and concerts have always taken place in the Town Hall. The current programme aims continue the tradition of these events as well as finding new ways to use the spaces and encouraging wider audiences into the building. The BAC Events Programme supports a range of local communities and groups, from neighbouring schools and colleges who regularly use the halls for assemblies, rehearsals and shows, to practitioners who run weekly classes such as yoga, martial arts and children’s playgroups.
These regular bookings often result in audience and participant crossovers into other strands of BAC programming and spaces. Lambeth College recently presented a student showcase in the Council Chamber, as well as running two end-of-year awards ceremonies in the Grand Hall on the same day.
These events also provide an alternative audience route into the building for those who would not normally venture into a theatre space. During Masque of the Red Death BAC ran weekly parties in the Grand Hall on Friday and Saturday nights. This opened the door to people who would come to a party, but might not come to see a show. During BAC’s annual Burst party a large part of the crowd had first experienced BAC through these parties, rather than through the theatre programme. They had fun, so they came back for more and were challenged to get involved in other parts of the programme.
The café plays a vital part in attracting a new audience by providing a valuable resource for local business and residents in addition to serving the artists, audience and staff members within the building. During the Burst Festival the café provides communal lunches for all the artists in the building. Many of BAC’s team meetings take place at tables in the café, around lunch or tea, so a local resident who has come in for a cup of tea can see a producer meeting an artist, or the admin team’s weekly catch up, which makes the activity of the building feel lively and accessible. The Events Programme also provides an important revenue stream into BAC.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Recreation room during preparations for MORD
2. Artists during MORD
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The relationship between BAC and the local area BAC was established by the people of Battersea. When England’s borough boundaries were re-drawn in the late 1960’s Battersea was absorbed in to Wandsworth, and Battersea Town Hall was closed, as the council’s business shifted to Wandsworth Town Hall. An attempt to run a community arts centre by Wandsworth Borough Council out of Battersea Town Hall was closed in the late 1970’s due to lack of funds. It was from these ashes that a group of local people from Battersea formed an independent trust, Battersea Arts Centre, and appointed Jude Kelly as the centre’s first Artistic Director.
BAC is inseparable from its community. The artists need the community and the community needs the art. It’s not just about the economic impact or the access to entertainment and recreation - both of which are vitally important of course. It’s about having a building where it is possible to go in with a spirit of uncertainty and leave feeling more optimistic about the human race. Jude Kelly, artistic director, South Bank Centre and founding director of BAC
BAC’s ambition is to be recognised locally, nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence for creating exciting theatre experiences for audiences. BAC understands that in order to achieve this it must be rooted in its local community. In 2008, BAC is still at the heart of its local community receiving over 250,000 visits every year. Over a quarter of the people who watch theatre at BAC come from the local community, one of the highest proportions of any London theatre. More than a third of BAC’s current trustees live in Battersea. The building hosts hundreds of weddings, fairs and sales, school events and church ceremonies every year, run by and for local people. BAC’s Participation programme is at the heart of the organisation’s mission to invent the future of theatre. This programme works with thousands of local school children every year in primary, secondary and further education, including visits to the building to see theatre and to participate in workshops with artists. BAC also runs three youth theatres for local people aged between 12 and 25, a music outreach programme for local young people identified as at risk of offending and is developing programmes of work for older local people, integrating theatre, participation and events for an ever growing local audience.
BAC is completely dependent on its local community. Each time it has been threatened with closure, extraordinary acts of support and generosity from local residents have kept it open. BAC has the rare accolade of being a genuinely local theatre which is also a vastly important national resource. The Wandsworth school children who currently enjoy BAC’s extensive arts programme are the potential theatre-makers of tomorrow. Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Grand Stairs during a Trashy event
49 2. Significance
The following statements of significance build upon the history of the Old Town Hall, its origins, design and cultural context as described in Part 1 ‘Understanding’, outlining the key values of Battersea Arts Centre. Please refer to Section 4 for a full break down of the significance of the various individual elements of the built fabric.
Architectural As a Grade II* listed building BAC has been designated a building of important and special architectural interest. The Old Town Hall is an attractive example of late Victorian municipal architecture, built with great skill and craftsmanship, designed by an architect of considerable repute. It has its own very special character and beautiful ‘set-pieces’, which make it unique and significant. The use of local artisans mean the building’s finer detail is rich in historical and social significance. The architecture is made more interesting by the need to accommodate its sloping site, which gives a pleasing complexity of plan and creates the possibility of separating the Municipal building from the Grand Hall. The spacious arrangement of the building and the generous, day lit, wide corridors off the central Court and flanking the Grand Hall contribute to the successful varied occupations of the building. The Council Chamber, the Grand staircase, the Grand Hall and entrance halls are beautiful and finely detailed spaces, well suited to entertainment purposes.
Historical The Old Town Hall’s historical significance is far-reaching. The building informs us of the politics, social values and concerns of the period it dates from, the end of the Victorian era. It tells the history of the growth and development of the city of London and the changing systems of national and local government. The building tells us an immeasurable amount about the people of the communities who built, worked in and attended it for over a century.
Social As a Town Hall until 1965 the building played an incredibly important social role in the community; with constituents attending the building for administrative purposes as well as for their leisure and the Grand Hall having always been a site of Concerts, Bazaars, Debating Societies, University Extension Lectures and Recreative entertainments of a high-class for the people. Under BAC’s stewardship the building continues to provide a high-class of entertainment for local people. BAC has a far reaching participatory programme, working with many schools and youth groups in the area, contributing significantly in this way to the life of the local community. Equally important now is BAC’s social role within the world of theatre. Many revered and established artists attribute their careers to BAC. Since its inception it has been a ‘creative wellspring’ for much of the most innovative theatre in the country.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. John Burns, MP for Battersea, addressing an audience in 1897. Painting by A.J. Finberg
2. Artists on the Grand Stairs during MORD
51 3. Issues and Opportunities
The objective of maintaining or enhancing all aspects of the significance of the building must take account of the forces for change that could affect BAC in the foreseeable future. Section 4, Conservation Strategy, presents principles and policies that respond to the issues and opportunities identified here. Please note these are still in progress as consultation between HTL and BAC continues.
Participatory Theatre With The Masque of the Red Death, the first of the Playground projects, BAC and Punchdrunk radically challenged perceptions of traditional theatre, producing a performance that opened up and used almost all of the building as a stage. Although ‘promenade’ type performance is not a new concept in theatre production, there are very few venues offering artists the type of continuous ‘found’ space that BAC has made part of its short and long-term aims.
Facilitating the use of the building as a continuous performance space requires many aspects of the existing situation to be adapted and improved. These issues are covered in the following sections on Infrastructure, Access/Health & Safety and Wear & Tear to built fabric.
BAC’s desire to provide such a performance space can be seen as an opportunity to enhance the significance of the building. Returning the spaces of the building to their former forms and improving the spatial arrangement in a manner closer to that originally desired by the architect will enhance the building.
The recent sell-out production of The Masque of the Red Death has dramatically raised BAC’s national and international profile and audience sizes are expected to continue to increase. There is a necessity to provide more adequate amenities and a desire to expand ancillary facilities, such as the bar and café.
Need to upgrade technical infrastructures Much of the technical infrastructure in the building that has been added in an ad-hoc way over the last 34 years is now obsolete. There is an opportunity to look at means of portable and flexible infrastructures to provide facilities in the context of a continuous performance space. There is also much scope for improving the existing technical service in the designated theatre spaces, the Council Chamber and other ‘black box’ studios. The distribution of new technical infrastructure will require careful management to avoid posing a threat to the retention of significance.
Access/Health & Safety The building currently presents several physical barriers to disabled people. This is partly due to the topography of the site making several changes in level necessary on the Ground floor. It is also a result of past limitations on funding which meant this issue was never properly addressed.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Bleacher seating in the Council Chamber 2. Arched sash window in the Cafe
3. Artists during a Trashy event
53 Issues and Opportunities
The building should be made as accessible as possible within its listed status so that disabled people can take a full part in activities and future promenade performances, the aim being to offer the same quality of experience to everyone.
The alternative approach to DDA compliance employed by BAC, the use of Travellers and Ushers for example in recent productions, should be seen as an opportunity to explore alternative solutions to meeting Access and Health & Safety requirements.
Town Hall Road The ability to use Town Hall Road as a private external space provides many opportunities Figure 5 for BAC.
Environmental Sustainability (climate change, carbon footprint) BAC will face increasing pressure to address sustainability issues in the maintenance and development of its building.
A primary consideration is an assessment of the risks of damage that could result from an increased incidence of damaging weather events due to climate change, such as very heavy storms or high winds. BAC should limit vulnerability to these hazards. Mitigating measures should be developed and implemented for foreseeable risks. In some areas, in particular in the Court, leaks from defunct and overloaded drainage systems need addressing.
Environmental responsibility, public opinion, market forces and legislation are likely to combine to require a reduction of CO2 emissions through reduced energy consumption and a move to renewable energy sources, both of which could present problems for significant historic buildings. The first consideration is the energy consumed in heating and lighting BAC. This can be reduced in a number of ways, including: - more insulation and the use of secondary glazing - better draught-proofing - more efficient boilers and controls - more efficient lighting - use of daylight rather than artificial light, where appropriate.
Some of these measures would have no impact on the historic significance of the building; reliance on daylight and the opening up of windows might enhance significance. However, adding insulation and reducing heat losses though windows can be difficult in historic buildings: the competing objectives of CO2 reduction and historic significance have to weighed against each other on a case-by-case basis, taking account of the level of significance of the element in question. It would be efficient to introduce these upgrades when other work is carried out on the building, for example, increasing roof insulation when a roof is replaced or maintained.
The second consideration is cooling the buildings in hot weather. Artificial cooling is far
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Town Hall Road elevation 2. Theatre Street elevation
3. Town Hall Road original entrance bricked up 4. Theatre Street entrance
5. Town Hall Road in use during MORD get-out
55 Issues and Opportunities
more damaging from a CO2 emissions point of view than heating. Every effort should be made to avoid or minimize energy-consuming air-conditioning, using natural ventilation whenever possible. Mechanical ventilation is sometimes effective in maintaining air quality without the draughts and uncontrolled ventilation of opening windows. As noted above, it is desirable to use spaces in ways that match their natural environmental conditions, in order to reduce the reliance on energy-consuming environmental systems; for example, putting objects that are insensitive to light in a well-lit spaces. This approach is likely to enhance the architectural significance of the buildings.
As well as reducing energy consumption, ‘micro-generation’ can be considered, using small scale energy generation on site from renewable sources or using fuel in ways that have lower CO2 emissions. Possible technologies include combined heat and power and ground-source heat-pumps, which have high capital costs but could lower BAC’s running costs as well as CO2 emissions. Wind turbines and solar water heaters are currently the most cost-effective and environmentally-benign forms of renewable power. A wind turbine may not be feasible at BAC due to its setting, but solar water heaters are more discreet and could be used for heating water.
There are major opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of construction projects by avoiding hazardous materials and components that generate harmful wastes when they are manufactured. This often improves indoor air quality in the finished building, avoiding the discharge of toxic chemicals. There is increasing pressure to reduce the volume of waste from construction and make more use of recycled materials. BAC should consider recovered or recycled building materials for refurbishment and new- build projects, and seek locally produced low impact materials, which maximise local economic benefit and prevent unnecessary transport.
Water consumption should be minimized. The storage and re-use of rainwater and grey water should be considered. In routine maintenance work, BAC should avoid or minimize the use of toxic chemicals inside buildings (e.g. bleach for cleaning) or in the grounds (e.g. chemical weed-killer). Any planning for the site of Town Hall Road should take account of expected climate change, in relation, for example, to the choice of species planted and the avoidance of irrigation. The potential for reduced heat gains or reduced sound pollution though shading by planting might be considered.
Although climate change will present severe challenges, it is BAC’s mission to embrace these environmental processes and their social and economic impact, so there are also many opportunities for BAC.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 2. The basement in use as a workshop
57 Issues and Opportunities
Wear & Tear to built fabric BAC’s increasing large number of visitors presents a threat to significance through wear and tear to the fabric. The buildings are generally robust, the original construction having been intended for institutional use. Please refer to Appendix * for a full conditions survey of the fabric of the building.
The exteriors of the buildings do not incorporate especially precious materials or intricate workmanship, which would be particularly vulnerable to wear and tear or weathering. However there are some decorative elements, listed in the Elements Schedule of Section 4, which will require more regular and specialist maintenance. These and other elements of original and vulnerable fabric must be carefully monitored and appropriately maintained and repaired.
BAC does not as yet have a specific set of procedures for reporting and responding to defects in the fabric. There is a Conditions Survey of the building which was conducted by WBC but which requires updating. A several year maintenance plan should be developed which incorporates monthly reporting procedures.
In general, the fabric is durable so long as the maintenance regime remains in force, in which historic materials are appropriately maintained to extend their service life and replaced when necessary using appropriate materials and workmanship. Please see Appendix * for the 10 year Works Programme which forms part of BAC’s 125 year lease with the Council. BAC are giving consideration to the order of the Works over the 10 year period in order to limit threats to the built fabric.
Principles are being developed (see Section 4) by which the level and appropriateness of show specific interventions in the building can be assessed.
The building fabric does not appear to have any serious defects or problems that would present a threat to the retention of significance.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. The Old Kitchen prior to conversion to BAC staff offices
2. Original timber architrave
59 4. Conservation Strategy
The need to preserve and enhance Battersea Arts Centre is a continuous, ongoing process. Conservation of a building must take into account a continuing need for maintenance and alterations required over time. BAC will not close to the public whilst repair and improvement works are carried out to the building. Seen within the organisation’s Space production, any works to the building will be programmed alongside the organisation’s other activities.
The Conservation Strategy is to be developed and agreed upon in collaboration with Wandsworth Borough Council and English Heritage. A broad strategy and policies will be developed to ensure the appropriate maintenance of and protection of the existing built fabric. The Schedule of Building Fabric (see below) lists the areas for Conservation Strategy. Assessing significance and developing policies will be carried out as and when needed and in agreement with Wandsworth Borough Council and English Heritage.
Schedule Of Building Fabric The schedule elaborates on the statement of architectural significance, assessing the building in detail by element (see below). Each element is assessed, with observations noted about the current state of the fabric, both the architectural characteristics and use/ function of each element. Policies are put forward for addressing the following:
1. Prospective improvements Strategic opportunities identified; future consents required.
2. Refurbishment and alterations Specified changes to fabric, currently require consent but under proposed legislation could be ‘pre-agreed’ though the approval of a ‘heritage protection plan’.
3. Maintenance and management No change to fabric; no listed building consent required.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Vitreous mosaic floor tiles 2. Glass dome to Octagonal Hall
3. Ground floor Paint room 4. Portland stone and Devonshire marble balustrade
61 Conservation Stratgy
EXTERIOR
Urban setting • Town Hall Road Elevations • Town Hall Road (North) • Lavender Hill (South) • Town Hall Road (East) • Theatre Street (West) Points of entry • Lavender Hill front entrance • Town Hall Road entrances • Theatre Street entrances • Octagonal Hall entrance • Lower Hall entrances Roof Turrets and Chimneys • Front building • Grand Hall building
INTERIOR
Front building • Principal Staircase • Vaulted gallery • Panelled glazed ceiling and frieze • Council chamber (paneling and arched ceiling) Grand Hall building • Octagonal Hall and dome • Grand Hall arched ceiling (mouldings and frieze) • Grand Hall stage • Grand Hall organ General components • Portland Stone • Devonshire Marble • Red Suffolk Brick • Timber sash Windows • Vitreous glass mosaic floor • Vaulted arches • Original timber paneling • Original timber door sets • Original architraves and mouldings • Statues & Plaques
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 1. Prinicipal Staircase 2. Vaulted gallery
3. New Staircase balustrade 4. Westmoreland brick
5. Stone surround to window on Lavender Hill 6. Bee depicted in Vitreous mosaic floor
7. Original plaque 8. Statue in the Octagonal Hall
63 Conservation Strategy
Relative Sensitivity Analysis The following drawings are intended to indicate the relative sensitivities of the various areas within the building. Three degrees of sensitivity are identified; red being the most sensitive, blue intermediate and green least sensitive.
Red Outline: These areas are of key fundamental importance to the heritage of the building. They contain architectural features, fixtures and fittings that are considered to be unique. Intervention into these areas should be kept to an absolute bare minimum, and if intervention must take place, then the repair and replacement must be invisible, and the highest and appropriate quality. The brief for any making good must follow the original style and methodology.
Blue Outline: This definition relies on expressions of what is reasonable, in light of any new legislation etc. A listed building must be able to respond to the needs of a modern day society, but in adapting it must not be architecturally or historically compromised. For instance, the fabric of the building should not be changed in such a way as to remove the context of the original features. This scale of designation requires very careful and methodical thought to navigate an acceptable and pragmatic solution that does not invalidate the historic fabric. Intervention will almost certainly be required in some of these areas, but it must respect the fabric, use the correct architectural vocabulary and, wherever possible, find a solution of minimum intervention.
Where previous undesirable intervention has taken place, and there is a desire to return to the previous and more original specification, detailed discussion will need to take place with English Heritage and Wandsworth Borough Council prior to the submission of a listed building consent application. Whilst all intervention will require such consent, it is crucial to discuss proposed primary intervention at the earliest possible opportunity.
Green Outline: These are areas of relatively low sensitivity. It does not automatically follow that anything goes when design and interventions are to be made. It allows for a more alternative approach to reinterpretation. Certain areas within the building demand intervention, e.g. accesses and circulation spaces. In such instances intervention is to be welcomed, especially when it returns the building back to a former, and crucially more important phase of its evolution.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Sensitivity drawings
Lower Hall
65 Sensitivity drawings
Lower Ground
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Sensitivity drawings
Ground floor
67 Sensitivity drawings
First floor
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Second floor
69 Sensitivity drawings Sections F-F
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Section A-A Section B-B
Section C-C Section D-D
Section E-E South elevation
North elevation
71 Sensitivity drawings East elevation
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft West elevation 73 5. Appendix
Appendix 1 Definition of a conservation statement by English Heritage
In summary, we believe that a conservation statement should be an outline version of a conservation plan, summarising existing knowledge, and that a conservation plan implies a higher degree of consultation and is more appropriate for sites where some change (such as new development) is proposed. In accordance with Recommendation 1 of English Heritage’s A Framework Strategy for English Heritage Standards and Guidelines, we are producing separate Standards and Guidelines documents. English Heritage’s urgent need is to ensure that it has consistent condition surveys for all its properties, but we believe that we will not get better, more consistent surveys unless we commit ourselves to giving surveyors better briefing, both in terms of national standards and a site specific brief. We see the Conservation Statement/Conservation Plan as an integral part of that site specific brief. Conservation Statements/Plans may also expected to form an integral part of Heritage Partnership Agreements, as the philosophical context for pre-agreed work.
Definition of a heritage asset by English Heritage
‘Heritage’ is about the values that people attach to places. Our rich inheritance of local authority-owned historic buildings and other heritage assets reflects the history of communities and public services. These buildings make a crucial contribution to local identity and distinctiveness. They help to enhance the quality of our lives through their use for cultural, educational, leisure and operational purposes and service provision. As an expression of local pride, often over several centuries, they matter to people – who must be consulted about ther futre.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 2 MOUNTFORD, Edward William 1855 - 1908 A.S. Gray, Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary (1985)
E. W. Mountford was born in 1855 in Warwickshire. He began his architectural career as a clerk of works for St. Stephen’s, Hounslow in 1871 for Habershon and Pite of Bloomsbury Square, London. In 1876 he became principal assistant to Percy Elkington and Sons and in 1879 to Giles and Gough. The following year he set up his own practice on his own account. His early work consisted largely of churches, church schools and rectories, many of them in Wandsworth.
In 1888 Mountford did his first public building, the Battersea Public Library, Lavender Hill, SW11, choosing the Early French Renaissance style, introduced by T. E. Collcutt eleven years earlier in Wakefield Town Hall. Much of Mountford’s subsequent work was in the field of town halls, municipal buildings, technical colleges and schools, many of them won in competitions. His first major success was Sheffield Town Hall (1890-4), again in Early French Renaissance style. This was followed by Battersea Town Hall on Lavender Hill, in the same style.
In 1900, with the Hitchin architect Geoffrey Lucas, Mountford won the competition for the small Hitchin Town Hall. In 1907, on quite a different scale, he won the splendid Lancaster Town Hall. The gift of the linoleum manufacturer, Lord Ashton, who had given Williamson Park to the town, this was a palace of splendid proportions, all correctly early Georgian and reviving the style of James Gibbs: the interior was equally grand and the whole was built by the Waring White Co., a subsidiary of Waring & Gillow of Lancaster and London (Bldr, 9.11.07).
Mountford’s first technical insititute was the ‘Wrennaissance’ style Battersea Polytechnic, Battersea Park Road, SW11, built in 1891 on part of the site previously occupied by the Albert Palace – a second hand iron building transferred to Battersea from the Dublin Exhibition of 1872 and opened as a concert hall and picture gallery by the speculator ‘Baron’ Grant. (The venture failed after a year, and the building was pulled down in 1894).
In 1896 Mountford won the competition for the Northampton Institute (now the City University) on the estate of the Earls of Northampton, St John St, EC1. This is in a Free-Classic style, somewhat French in flavour. Mountford also designed the College of Technology and Museum Extension, Byrom Street, Liverpool, giving the facade paired columns, one square, one round, swathed in rustications and flanking wide pedimented niches which are surmounted by figures in Michelangelesque poses (Bldr, 11.1.02).
Among his London buildings, the block of offices for Booth’s distillery in Turnmill Street, Smithfield, EC1 (Bldr, 17.8.01) was of exceptional quality.
75 Appendix
Appendix 3 Transcript of part of text pertaining to the building in the Inauguration 1893 programme:
The works have proceeded with great rapidity, owing to exceptionally fine weather which has prevailed since the commencement, in an entirely satisfactory manner, and the Vestry are pleased to report that no serious accident has occurred to any of the numerous men engaged in the erection of the buildings.
The buildings have a frontage of 110 feet to Lavender Hill and a frontage of 293 feet to Town Hall Road. The fall in the ground is so rapid that it has been possible to obtain a complete floor below the floor of the Public Hall, yet entirely above ground this although the floor level of the Pubic Hall is several feet below the level of the Municipal offices.
The style of the building is Modern Renaissance.
The elevations are of red Suffolk bricks and Monks Park (Bath) stone with roofs of Westmoreland slates, the roof turrets being constructed of oak covered with copper and surmounted by wrought iron.
The main entrance is in the Lavender Hill front and has a semi-circular portico. The Vestibule, 15 feet in width, leads to the Entrance Hall which is 55 feet by 29 feet and here is situate the principal staircase. This staircase is a very handsome feature in the buildings, the steps being of Sicilian marble, with strings and handrail of Devonshire marble and balusters of Devonshire spar. A stone arcade and gallery surround three sides of the upper part of the staircase, the gallery having a groined ceiling and a balustrade of marble similar to that of the staircase. The ceiling of the staircase is paneled with ribs and glazed with tinted glass, beneath which is a deep enriched frieze of fibrous plaster modeled by Mr. Gilbert Seale. The floors of the Vestibule, Entrance Hall and Gallery are of Battersea glass mosaic, made and laid by the Vitreous Mosaic Co.
Leading from the Entrance Hall are two corridors, one on each side of the Grand Staircase, each 8 feet in width and enclosing a central courtyard from which they are lighted. These corridors have also the Vitreous Mosaic paving.
The left or Western corridor leads to the General Office, the Vestry Clerk’s private offices, Rating, Assessment, &c. Office, Trade Accountant’s Office and the Rate Collecting Hall, this latter being a fine room nearly twenty feet in height.
The right or Eastern corridor communicates with Surveyor’s General, Private and Drawing Offices and the Offices of the Medical Officer and the Sanitary Officers, the two latter having separate entrances from Town Hall Road. The doors to all of these rooms are of oak and the mantel pieces and fittings throughout which have been specially made by the builder from the Architect’s designs) are of mahogany and basswood.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft The Council Chamber is situate on the first floor in the center of the Principal Front and measures 55 feet by 35 feet and is 25 feet in height. It is panelled in oak to a height of 8 feet above the floor, which is of oak, and it has an enriched paneled ceiling of fibrous plaster. All the fittings and furniture of this room are in oak, and there is a gallery for the general public, approached from an entrance in Town Hall Road.
The Member’s Library and Grand Committee Room, on the east and west of the Council Chamber respectively, each measure 33 feet by 25 feet and also have oak floors and fittings, with mantel pieces of Russet marble and Hopton Wood stone, made by Mr. Twigg of Bakewell in Derbyshire.
The Sanitary Committee room is on the eastern front and has an open roof. The room is 40 feet by 25 feet and has two ante-rooms adjoining.
There is also a small Committee room and a hat and coat room for Members; on the second floor are rooms for the caretaker.
The Grand Hall is in the rear of the Municipal offices, and may be reached by either of the corridors before mentioned, but it has also a grand entrance from the Ton Hall Road. This latter entrance opens into a spacious vestibule and this again into an Octagonal Hall, surmounted by a glass dome carried upon stone arches and columns of polished dark Devonshire marble. The glass of the dome has been supplid by Messrs. Wotton & Sons of North End, Croydon.
The floor is of enriched vitreous glass mosaic, laid by the Vitreous Mosaic Co.
From this Octagonal Hall the Reception Room is entered, and there are Retiring rooms for ladies and gentlemen respectively.
The Grand Hall is 117 feet long by 56 feet wide, and 40 feet high and, with the end gallery, provides seats for 1,140 people. The floor is of oak, the ceiling of fibrous plaster, pnelled and enriched.
The platform is at the North end, beneath a lofty proscenium arch and has a panelled ceiling.
On each side of the Grand Hall are corridors ten feet wide, with stone stairs at the northern ends leading to the lower floor. The Hall has nine wide doorways fitted with swing doors, and there are in addition two in the gallery and two upon the platform, making thirteen in all. The Gallery has two staircases, one at each end, and seats about 130 people.
Beneath the Grand Hall is a Lower hall, capable of accommodating about 400 persons, a large kitchen, numerous retiring rooms, &c., all being completely above the
77 Appendix
level of the ground.
The Office fittings supplied by Mr, Wallis, the Builder, have already been referred to. The carpets and other furniture, &c. have been supplied by Messrs. Arding & Hobbs of Clapham Junction, Messrs. Hampton & Sons of Pall Mall East, Messrs. Maple & Co. of Tottenham Court Road and Mr. C. Gibbons of High Wycombe, Bucks.
The offices, Municipal Halls and principal rooms are lighted by the Vertmarche high power gas lamps fitted with ventilating appliances supplied and fixed by the Patentees, Messrs. H. Greene & Sons of Nos. 153 and 155, Cannon Street, E.C., the whole of the remaining gas fittings and brass and iron work being made by Messrs. Richardson Ellson & Co. of Nos. 17 and 18, Brownlow Street, Holborn, from the designs of the Archietect.
The electric bells and speaking tubes have been supplied and fitted by Messrs. Freeman Bros., of York Road, Battersea. The mosaic paving, throughout the buildings, as already stated, has been supplied by the Vitreous Mosaic Co. of Church Road, Battersea.
The buildings are heated by the low pressure hot water system by Messers. Z.D.Berry & Sons of Regency Street, Westminster, and the fire hydrants, water mains, &c. have been supplied by Messrs. Shand, Mason & Co. of No. 75, Upper Ground Street, Blackfriars.
The sculpture on the principal front is by Mr. P. R. Montford of Battersea. The two end pediments contain figures representing Labour and Progress (East) and Art and Literature (West) instructing a youthful figure typical of the municipality of Battersea. In the central pediment is the Battersea coat of arms and crest supported by figures representing Justice and Prudence, whilst on the spandrels beneath the subjects of Government and Entertainment are represented.
The remainder of the carving is by Mr. Gilbert Seale of No. 14A, George Street, Camberwell Road, including the frieze beneath the dome of the Octagonal Hall round which upon a background of oak and vine leaves runs the following quotation from Shakespeare (Richard II., Act I. Scene I.)-
“The purest treasure mortal times afford, Is spotless reputation ; that away, Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.” * * * * “Mine honour is my life ; both grow in one.”
Mr. Isaac Gard has officiated as Clerk of Works and Mr. Calvert as General Foreman.
It is proposed to use the Halls for public Meetings of Ratepayers in connection with
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft the election of Vestrymen, which are very largely attended and for which there is, at present, no adequate accommodation, and for the other purposes of public interest to the ratepayers, there being, in the opinion if the Vestry, a great need of such accommodation in this large and important district. The Halls will also be let in similar manner to Halls in other parts of the Metropolis, for Concerts, Bazaars, Debating Societies, University Extension Lectures and Recreative entertainments of a high-class for the people, all such uses being conducive to the well-being of the inhabitants.
The total cost is not yet definitely ascertained, but it is anticipated that it will be within the amount originally stipulated by the Vestry, and this notwithstanding that a considerable amount of work which was not included in the selected design has been carried out in the course of the erection of the buildings, necessitating a number of alterations which in many cases afford increased convenience and accommodation and greatly add to the appearance of the buildings. This is particularly noticeable in the plans for the Grand Hall and the Grand Staircase ; the plan for the Grand Hall provided seating accommodation for 1,000 persons only whereas the Hall with the enlarged gallery actually seats 1,140 persons, and it was originally intended that the Grand Staircase should be of Bath stone but the vestry decided to substitute marble, Devonshire marble, with Portland stone bases, has also been substituted for bath stone for the ten columns in the Octagonal Hall.
The money has been obtained upon loan at 3 ½ percent. Interest, the repayments being spread over a lengthy period so that the expenditure may not unduly press upon the ratepayers.
The Vestry trust that the buildings, which have been designed and erected with so much thought and consideration, may tend to a wider knowledge of and incite a greater interest in, local Municipal affairs, and the grouping of the whole offices of the vestry in the one building will undoubtedly tend to increased efficiency in the administration of the municipal business and also afford a greater convenience to the Inhabitants.
79 Appendix
Appendix 4 English Heritage Listing description
LB UID ------207065
BUILDING NAME ------BATTERSEA COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE
LIST_ENTRY_DESCRIPTION ------
LAVENDER HILL SW11 1.5033 Battersea Community Arts Centre (Formerly listed as the former Battersea Town Hall with offices and public assembly hall)
TQ 2775 9/4 13.2.70 II*2.
1892, by E W Mountford. Large, detached building. Front block in free classical style. Red brick and brown stone with high, pantiled roof. Main facade ambitiously treated with Ionic columns, 3 shaped pediments and figure sculpture. Interior contains fine marble staircase with arcaded gallery on 3 sides. Good council chamber with arched ceiling. Offices plainly treated but of considerable merit externally. Assembly hall and vestibule also of interest.
Listing NGR: TQ2785475640
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 5 Occupation of the building
The following is a chronological record of the social, political and cultural events affecting the Old Town Hall and BAC since the C19:
C19 Elm House Estate – family history (Jeanie - first ever female civil servant)
1891 Vestry of St Mary take decision to build Battersea Town Hall Vestry made up of members of Progressive Alliance
1893 W. Mountford’s building for the Town hall is opened Time capsule containing details of the events of the inauguration are placed inside the foot of the Grand Stair
1900 Vestry was superceded by Battersea Council Grand and Lower Halls used for entertainment and education
1914-18 WWI Town Hall served a s a recruiting station, administrative centre and conscientious objector’s tribunal site
1922 Grand Hall site of Communist Party National Congress
1924 Riots outside the Town Hall as Saklatvala gets re-elected as Communist MP
1926 Lower Hall used as a Council of Action headquarters in the General Strike Lower Hall used as a Polling Station
1928 Site of demonstrations for women’s suffrage
1932 5,000 demonstrate outside the Town Hall to pressure Council into setting up a Public Works program
1939-45 WWII Wartime site of rationing control, distribution of air masks, air raid precaution centre
1950s The Grand Hall took over from the bombed Shakespeare Theatre as a place for music hall, theatre and live entertainment
1965 National borough re-organisation laws
81 Appendix
Battersea Borough became part of Wandsworth and the Town Hall lost its role as an administrative centre
1965 Council plans to redevelop the Town Hall as a museum and library Successful protest to save the building, backed by Poet Laureate John Betjeman
1974-79 The Town Hall serves as a community centre run by the Wandsworth Council Grand and Lower halls used for sporting events, boxing in the Lower Hall
1979-81 Threat of redundancy/demolition as new use is sought Massive campaign to re-open the building as an arts centre
1981 Battersea Arts Centre, an independently run arts centre is opened
1985 Princess Diana opened Studio 1 after refurbishment
1990 BAC became a leading venue for fringe theatre BAC took over the running of the Grand & Lower Halls
1993 Refurbishment work carried out across the building Prime minister John Major opens the renovated building 3 day event celebrated the centenary with much press coverage
1997 Levitt Bernstein architects carried out Feasibility Study Funding never obtained to carry out development work
2007 BAC faces closure at withdrawal of funding from Wandsworth Council and increase in rent
BAC succeeds in securing 125 year lease on the building and financial support from Wandsworth Council, Arts Council England and other bodies
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 6 Alterations to the built fabric
1888 E.W.Mountford’s first public building, Battersea Public Library opened
1-94 E.W.Mountford’s Sheffield Town Hall built
1891 The Vestry of St Mary decide to build a Town Hall, E.W. Mountford wins the competition as a well known local architect The Vestry purchase the site - Elm House Estate on Lavender Hill 15 Dec – Ground floor plan published in The Builder
1-93 Battersea Town Hall is built quickly thanks to ‘fine weather’
1899 Original plans showing building in existing Courtyard, addition of a story to north side of courtyard and the formation of the Red stairwell to serve the Refreshment Room. New Landing and Stairs formed to south west side of Principal Stairs.
1900 The Grand Theatre at Clapham Junction opened, architect E.A. Woodrow
1901 Large pipe organ installed in Grand Hall - This was an unusual instrument designed by Robert Hope-Jones, a pioneering (and at the time controversial) organ builder who invented many aspects of the modern pipe organ. His ideas went on to form the basis of the Wurlitzer Theatre organ in the 1920s and 30s.
1924 The reference library was added to Battersea Public Library – architect T. Hayward
1925 Plans by The Borough Surveyor showing proposal for additional offices on second and third floors of Front building
1934 Battersea Borough Engineer & Surveyor, W.J. Dresden Plans showing stairs added to southwest corridor adjacent to Red Stairwell and addition of partitions and Projection rooms
1-45 WWII Bomb damage to the southwest Lavender Hill elevation of building, subsequently rebuilt
1957 Planning permission granted to form new transformer chamber in basement
83 Appendix
1960s The Vitreous Glass Bee Mosaic covered by new concrete floor Central handrail inserted in marble staircase and steps carpeted
1962 Planning permission granted to erect a dustbin shelter at the NW corner
1967 Battersea Borough Architect, L. Phillips Plans proposing Town Hll Redevelopment, only Grand Hall retained in scheme for new library and museum
1970 Building listed, Grade II*
1978 Listed building consent granted to carry out alterations – alterations not detailed in application record, believed to be the addition of cloakroom and lavatories in the Grand Hall building
1979 Consent granted for application ‘to conceal ‘two GF fresh air fans at ground floor level with a ½ hr protected suspended ceiling to create a restroom at 1st floor to be reached from below by the provision of a spiral staircase and from the adjoining room by the provision of a half flight of stairs’
1983 Listed building consent granted ‘Raising the floor level beneath entrance portico by an extra step and provision of a ramp’ Full permission and listed building consent granted ‘Formation of lift shaft in central courtyard’
1984 Full permission granted, conditional and listed building consent ‘Formation of new doorway and steps to Town Hall Road’
1985 Building refurbished, Studio 1 re-opened
1987 Listed Building permission granted ‘Installation of retractable seating system within theatre, relocation of one memorial panel within building, repositioning of doorways, widening of escape staircase, creation of lobby adjacent to bar, replacement of theatre flooring, subdivision of backstage dressing rooms, other partitioning and ancillary works.’ Agent – Tim Ronalds Architects
1990 Temporary planning permission granted ‘Use of section of public footpath on Lavender Hill as a seating area for customers of Battersea Arts Centre’
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Director – Jane Dawson
1991-3 Restoration works undertaken to mark centenary of the building Madigan & Donald Architects Handrail removed from staircase, holes repaired Frieze repainted Mosaic floor uncovered
1992 Listed Building consent granted ‘alterations including repairs to stonework of portico, cupola and 2 frontmost chimney stacks; stone cleaning and repointing of stonework to southern, parts of eastern and western elevations, removal of anti-graffiti paint to brickwork below ground floor windows on southern elevation and part of eastern and western elevations.’
1993 Full application withdrawn for ‘Installation of ramp, with handrails, on the Theatre Street frontage to provide improved access to he building’
1994 Listed Building consent granted ‘alterations including dismantling of internal marble handrail and balustrading of main entrance hall staircase to allow their structural repair and reinstatement’ ‘alterations including dismantling of portico to allow structural repairs and rebuild
1997 WPG surveys conduct measured survey of the building
1997 Feasibility studies proposing new theatre spaces Levitt Bernstein Architects
1998 Wandsworth Borough Council conduct Conditions Survey of building Extensive repair work undertaken off site to Octagonal Hall glass dome
1999 Listed Building consent for various alterations ‘installation of secondary glazing to Grand Hall and Grand Hall corridor windows; refurbish Grand Hall doors including new frames and replacement of glass lights; sound insulation works to main ‘house’, studios one and two.’ Agent – Levitt Bernstein Assoc Ltd
2001 Listed Building consent with conditions ‘Construction of a glazed sound lobby adjacent to the former Council chamber at first floor level to provide sound insulation, and repositioning of
85 Appendix
the doors to the former Council chamber within the existing opening.’
2002 Listed building consent with conditions ‘Installation of new stage lighting support structures in the Grand Hall to replace existing outmoded facilities.’ Agent – Use Architects Full planning application withdrawn ‘Strengthening of stage from underneath to support new stage lighting columns and levelling pads under the columns.’
2004 Listed building consent with conditions ‘Installation of 9 internally illuminated ‘cube’ signs projecting from the front façade of the building.’ ‘Installation of two spot light illuminated poster board signs on front façade of the building.’
2007 Haworth Tompkins architects prepare a feasibility study on the building, ‘Fuzzy Logic’
2007-8 Playground Project 1, the Masque of the Red Death, transformed the building and opened up more than 30% more performance space
2008 Conservation statement, jointly authored by HTL and BAC
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 7 List of Planning Applications and Listed Building Consents recorded by Wandsworth Borough Council
1957 Planning permission granted to form new transformer chamber in basement 1962 Planning permission granted to erect a dustbin shelter at the NW corner 1970 Building listed, Grade II* 1978 Listed building consent granted to carry out alterations [DN: the council list doesn’t describe these changes, which were they?] 1979 Consent granted for application ‘to conceal ‘two GF fresh air fans at ground floor level with a ½ hr protected suspended ceiling to create a restroom at 1st floor to be reached from below by the provision of a spiral staircase and from the adjoining room by the provision of a half flight of stairs’ 1983 Listed building consent granted ‘Raising the floor level beneath entrance portico by an extra step and provision of a ramp’ Full permission and listed building consent granted ‘Formation of lift shaft in central courtyard’ 1984 Full permission granted, conditional and listed building consent ‘Formation of new doorway and steps to Town Hall Road’ 1987 Listed Building permission granted ‘Installation of retractable seating system within theatre, relocation of one memorial panel within building, repositioning of doorways, widening of escape staircase, creation of lobby adjacent to bar, replacement of theatre flooring, subdivision of backstage dressing rooms, other partitioning and ancillary works.’ Agent – Tim Ronalds Architects 1990 Temporary planning permission granted ‘Use of section of public footpath on Lavender Hill as a seating area for customers of Battersea Arts Centre’ Director – Jane Dawson 1992 Listed Building consent granted ‘alterations including repairs to stonework of portico, cupola and 2 frontmost chimney stacks; stone cleaning and repointing of stonework to southern, parts of eastern and western elevations, removal of anti-graffiti paint to brickwork below ground floor windows on southern elevation and part of eastern and western elevations.’ 1993 Full application withdrawn for ‘Installation of ramp, with handrails, on the Theatre Street frontage to provide improved access to he building’
87 Appendix
1994 Listed Building consent granted ‘alterations including dismantling of internal marble handrail and balustrading of main entrance hall staircase to allow their structural repair and reinstatement’ ‘alterations including dismantling of portico to allow structural repairs and rebuild 1999 Listed Building consent for various alterations ‘installation of secondary glazing to Grand Hall and Grand Hall corridor windows; refurbish Grand Hall doors including new frames and replacement of glass lights; sound insulation works to main ‘house’, studios one and two.’ Agent – Levitt Bernstein Assoc Ltd 2001 Listed Building consent with conditions ‘Construction of a glazed sound lobby adjacent to the former Council chamber at first floor level to provide sound insulation, and repositioning of the doors to the former Council chamber within the existing opening.’ 2002 Listed building consent with conditions ‘Installation of new stage lighting support structures in the Grand Hall to replace existing outmoded facilities.’ Agent – Use Architects Full planning application withdrawn ‘Strengthening of stage from underneath to support new stage lighting columns and levelling pads under the columns.’ 2004 Listed building consent with conditions ‘Installation of 9 internally illuminated ‘cube’ signs projecting from the front façade of the building.’ ‘Installation of two spot light illuminated poster board signs on front façade of the building.’
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 8 Architects known to have been involved with Battersea Arts Centre
1891 - 93 E. W. Mountford
1899 – 1900 Battersea Borough Surveyor
1925 Battersea Borough Surveyor
1934 W. J. Dresden, Engineer & Surveyor, Battersea Borough Council
1960 -70s L. Phillips A.R.I.B.A., Wandsworth Borough Architect
1980s M. C. Lee A.R.I.B.A., Wandsworth Borough Architect
1987 Tim Ronalds Architects
1991-93 Madigan & Donald Architects
1997 Levitt Bernstein Associates Ltd
2002 Use Architects
2006 Haworth Tmpkins imieAppendix 10
89 Appendix
Appendix 9 Project Directory:
Battersea Arts Centre Telephone / Email David Jubb Artistic Director 020 7223 6557 [email protected] David Micklem Artistic Director 020 7223 6557 [email protected] Rosie Hunter Executive Director 020 7223 6557 [email protected] Allegra Galvin Assistant to Artistic Directors 020 7326 8219 [email protected] Richard Couldrey Head of Production & Premises 020 7223 6557 [email protected]
Wandsworth Borough Council John Webb Principal Planner 020 8871 6000 [email protected] Dave Brown Head of Premises 020 8871 8433 Management Services [email protected]
English Heritage Kate Emmerson EH Case Officer 020 7973 3716 [email protected]
Haworth Tompkins Limited Steve Tompkins Director 020 7250 3225 [email protected] Joanna Sutherland Associate Architect 020 7250 3225 [email protected] Holly van de Coevering Assistant Architect 020 7250 3225 [email protected]
Skelly & Couch Tristan Couch M& E Engineer 020 7424 7770 [email protected]
Charcoal Blue Andy Hayles Theatre Consultant 020 7928 000 [email protected] Gavin Owen Theatre Consultant 020 7928 000 [email protected]
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Bristow Johnson & Partners Lindsay Cornock Quantity Surveyor 020 7636 1036 [email protected]
Price & Myers Paul Batty Structural Engineer 020 7631 5128 [email protected]
Paul Gillieron Acoustic Design Paul Gillieron Acoustician 020 8671 2223 [email protected]
Appendix 10 PRESS RELEASE 05/10/07 The Red Death is coming…
Battersea Arts Centre is proud to announce a ground-breaking collaboration with Punchdrunk, one of the most innovative young companies working in British theatre today. In Autumn 2007, Punchdrunk and BAC will create a journey into the macabre world of a devastated land with a co-production of The Masque of the Red Death, inspired by the classic short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. BAC and Punchdrunk will be working closely with acclaimed architect Steve Tompkins (Haworth Tompkins Architects) to unlock the potential and adventure of BAC’s home, the Old Town Hall.
The Masque of the Red Death is a spectacular performance installation featuring an extraordinary cast of twenty performers, fantasy, illusion and surprise. The production incorporates material drawn from some of Poe’s most spine-chilling and enthralling tales. Explore the four corners of Battersea Arts Centre and relive its Victorian origins as you weave your way through the Old Town Hall, from attic to basement, east wing to west wing, grand foyer to forgotten back rooms. On the way you’ll encounter poverty and squalor, opulence and wealth, the beautiful and the bizarre as Punchdrunk immerse the building in Poe’s imagination. The Masque of the Red Death is directed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle. The production is the first of BAC’s Playground Projects, with the help of architect Steve Tompkins whose recent credits include the redevelopment the Young Vic theatre. Steve Tompkins will be working with BAC over the next three years to re- imagine this exciting site. For more information please contact Alicia Gelassakis, Press and Communications Officer on [email protected]
91 Appendix
PRESS RELEASE 09/01/08 Arts centre aims for dynamic future
The council and Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) have announced details of a new agreement that will secure the future of one of the country’s most vibrant arts venues.
The council, which owns the freehold of the Grade II* listed building, will grant BAC a 125-year lease of the premises. This will enable BAC to develop its own long term plans for the venue. BAC will take on responsibility for building repairs and will raise money in a visionary scheme to develop and safeguard the future of the building. The council has granted an initial 10-year rent-free period to enable this to happen. The detailed lease will be considered by councillors at meetings of the environment and leisure and corporate resources overview and scrutiny committees. The final decision will be taken by the council’s executive on November 26. BAC chair Nick Starr said: “We are close to the finishing line. What we have with the council is a straight-forward arrangement where BAC take on ownership of the building and responsibility for its upkeep. Mf “This in turn will give us the freedom to press forward with a range of ambitious plans for the venue. Our dream is to make Battersea the most dynamic arts space in the country. Thanks to the council we now have that opportunity.”Council leader Edward Lister added: “This will be an excellent outcome for the people of the borough. The building will be looked after, the council tax-payer will be protected and the venue will have the chance to flourish. “The arrangement provides certainty for BAC and will, I am sure, provethe key to releasing the energy that will be needed to drive the whole project forward. The BAC team has displayed terrific vision and enterprise. The future could not be more exciting.” The council will continue to support youth theatre work at the centre as part of its annual grants programme. This funding is worth £85,000 in 2007/2008. The environment and leisure OSC meets on October 30 followed by the corporate resources OSC on November 21. Councillors on both committees will scrutinise the draft lease in detail before reporting to the executive on November 26.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 11 Contemporary Press articles on BAC ‘Risky business’
BAC are trying to make the Fringe much more dangerous. And they have just the format to do it. Maddy Costa joins the One O’Clock Scratch
Tuesday August 23, 2005 The Guardian
David Jubb is sitting at a table in the courtyard of the Underbelly surrounded by people he’s never met before. They’ve come to meet the artistic director of London’s BAC theatre to hear about One O’Clock Scratch, a new initiative Jubb is introducing at this year’s festival. “It could,” he says cheerily, “be an unmitigated disaster. But then, Scratch is about the right to fail, about the fact that you can totally screw up.”
“Scratch” is BAC’s name for the informal nights that happen at the theatre throughout the year, in which companies show snippets of a work in progress to an audience who, rather than paying for a ticket, are expected to buy the artists a beer after the show and tell them precisely what they thought. It was started five years ago by BAC’s then artistic director, Tom Morris, who wanted to create a forum in which people could try out ideas, free from the pressure of needing to be perfect. Since then, Scratch has spawned its very own success stories: last year’s Perrier winner Jackson’s Way and, most famously, Jerry Springer: The Opera, which started life as a daft 10-minute experiment in marrying opera with swearwords, and grew over the course of several more Scratch nights into a West End show.
This year’s Fringe is full of productions that have worked their way to Edinburgh via Scratch - and the people behind them are unequivocal about the advantages of developing work in this way. “I’d be crapping myself if someone said to me, here’s a bunch of money, now go and write a play, rehearse it for four weeks and put it on,” says Mark Murphy, the playwright-turned choreographer behind The Night Shift at the Traverse. “This way, I can hone my virgin skills as a writer. I know I can do big visual imagery, but it’s a real discipline for me to say that a show is going to be just a battle of words.”
According to Mark Down, of puppet theatre company Blind Summit, Scratch is perfect for those who are trying to invent new ways of working. “No one else is doing anything quite like what we’re doing,” he says, “so the best way for us to discover what we can do is to put it in front of an audience and get feedback.” But he also says there are drawbacks to Scratch: Blind Summit’s Edinburgh show, Low Life, spent two years in development and Down recognises that companies can end up “endlessly scratching” without ever taking the leap into a full production.
93 Appendix
Jubb, meanwhile, has his own misgivings. “I wish Scratch were a bit messier, a bit rougher,” he says. “I’m concerned it places a limitation on work: you only get 10 minutes’ tech time and 10 minutes’ performance time, so if you’ve got an ambitious idea, scratch might reduce it. I have misgivings about it all the time - I’m always ready to ditch it as a process of development.”
Why, then, does he want to start up Scratch in Edinburgh? Largely, it seems, to bring a little edge back to the Fringe. “Edinburgh is slightly at risk of, ironically, taking fewer risks, because it’s become quite a commercial beast,” he argues. “Sometimes the most risky stuff you see up here is the way people hand out flyers.” Scratch gives actors and writers the chance to experiment again - and to join forces with other like-minded people. “There’s a fantastic breadth of artists up here, and an opportunity to put together collaborations - which might otherwise be hard to arrange - because people have a lot of time on their hands to play, and they’re in a playful mood. They might have an idea over dinner or in conversation at a bar: Scratch allows them to try out those ideas.” With any luck, those people may return to Edinburgh in a couple of years with a fully fledged show.
Jubb and his producer Richard Dufty have given themselves just one week at the festival to meet companies and arrange who is going to fill the 12 scratch sessions being held up here over the next fortnight. Partly they’re doing that by seeing shows and inviting people to get involved; partly they’re taking recommendations from their associate artists - people such as Stewart Lee - who are performing in Edinburgh and working as unofficial scouts. And then there are the pitching sessions, like the meeting in the Underbelly courtyard, where people come with ideas that range from the provocative and thoughtful to the just plain odd.
One woman wants to stage a kind of press conference with a woman who may or may not have killed her boyfriend. This would be punctuated with semi-fantastical flashback scenes in which different versions of what happened to the man are played out. She wants to do this at Scratch because: “I’ve got the ideas but I don’t know what to do with them - I’d like to see what other people would do.” Another woman has been trying out an idea - of a “cafe of no tomorrows”, where we come to address our fate - with her company for some time now, to no avail. She’s hoping that putting it in front of a scratch audience might “call forth the right structure and form for it”. We also meet a man with a deliciously loopy idea: to find people with iPods, give them a piece of text on MP3 and get them to narrate it on stage unrehearsed, while following the moves of a dancer who is hidden behind the audience.
With everyone they meet, Jubb and Dufty ask the same question: “What do you want to find out from the audience?” If someone doesn’t have a satisfactory answer - if, as Dufty says, there’s a suspicion that they’re coming to Scratch not to explore an idea but to “showcase their work in the hope that an agent will see it” - then Scratch isn’t for them. This willingness to ask questions, Jubb says, is crucial. “If theatre did that a lot more,” he says, “it would be a much more exciting art form than it is.”
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Two weeks later, Jubb feels as if “we’ve given birth to Scratch all over again”. The first week of Edinburgh shows have featured a mixture of BAC regulars (including Will Adamsdale and Blind Summit) presenting new work, and companies with whom Jubb has never worked before. One of these, The Team, has already been commissioned to return to BAC in September. No wonder Jubb says he is “generally really pleased” with how it’s going.
Even performers who have never been keen on Scratch before are responding positively. One of these is Greg McLaren, whose show How to Build a Time Machine is playing at the Pleasance. He took part over the weekend and was impressed by the audience response. “It really felt as though people were interested in what you were doing, no matter how vague the idea,” he says. And in a town where “everyone is fizzing”, he’s enjoyed the opportunity “to collaborate randomly with people and see what happens”.
For Jubb, the real key to the success of One O’Clock Scratch has been the change in the audience. Attendances have been rising - from about 30 for the first show to around 100 for yesterday’s Scratch - and people have proved increasingly keen to stick around for the feedback sessions afterwards. “A punter said to me last week, ‘It’s not that we think you don’t want to listen, it’s just that some of us don’t think we’ve got anything important to say.’ I thought that was really revealing about the type of theatre that’s being made in this country, and the way it gets reviewed,” says Jubb. “A lot of people think that they’re not intelligent enough for theatre, and so their opinion doesn’t count. I hope Scratch is beginning to chip away at that.”
I want you, BAC Lynn Gardner The Guardian
Battersea Arts Centre is one of the most influential theatres in Britain, yet stringent budget cuts may soon force it to close.
January 18, 2007 1:26 PM
Of all the theatres in the UK, which has been the most influential over the last 25 years? The Royal Court? The National? Sheffield? No. If there is one place which has a genuine claim to be Britain’s most influential theatre it is Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) in south- west London. BAC has the rare accolade of being a genuinely local theatre which is also a vastly important national resource. The Wandsworth school children who currently enjoy BAC’s extensive arts programme are the potential theatre-makers of tomorrow.
All roads seem to lead from SW11. The venue perched on Lavender Hill has tentacles that reach out into almost every theatre in the land and into almost every area of activity. BAC has spawned an army of people who are currently shaping the new face of British
95 Appendix
theatre: Jude Kelly, formerly artistic director of West Yorkshire Playhouse; Ian Rickson who runs the Royal Court; Thea Sharrock at the Gate and Tom Morris, responsible for changing the face of the National Theatre with hits such as Jerry Springer, Coram Boy and Tristan and Yseult.
Then there are the companies who have developed work at BAC. Companies such as Kneehigh and Improbable, DV8 and The Right Size, Cheek by Jowl, Frantic Assembly and Complicite - all of which are now established and acclaimed theatre makers with international reputations, whose work is part of Britain’s burgeoning cultural export industry.
BAC has always been a place for experiment, a place to take risks, a place that has allowed artists to get down and dirty and be just that little bit bolder than anywhere else in the country. It creates the conditions that allow fledgling artists to develop to a point where they can take flight and go out into the wider world. There is hardly a theatre or arts centre in the country that is untouched by BAC’s work.
You might think local councillors would be thrilled and proud to be the custodians of such a local and national treasure; delighted by the 220,000 visitors that BAC receives each year and the positive impact that those visitors have on the local economy (about £2m-a- year, the centre estimates). But you would think wrong. Last week BAC’s local council, Tory-governed Wandsworth, gave notice that from April 1 it intends to cut BAC’s annual grant from £100,000 to zero and simultaneously start charging a commercial rent for the Lavender Hill building of more than £270,000 per annum. If this was to go ahead, BAC could not survive and would have to close.
This would be a tragedy for the people of Wandsworth, whose cultural lives would be so much poorer. It would also be a tragedy for British theatre because it would inflict huge damage on the theatre ecology. The local children and companies watching and working in Wandsworth today should be working at the National and on international stages tomorrow. Without BAC that won’t happen.
When will government, both local and national, wake up to the fact that giving money to the arts is not subsidy, but investment - investment which not only has a financial return, but which also brings much wider benefits and improvements to people’s lives? The health of the country demands that we invest in the imagination as well as in hospitals.
If you want to make your views clear to Edward Lister, leader of Wandsworth Council, you should email him. Do make it clear if you are a Wandsworth resident. And of course register your support here too.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Comments filthy Comment No. 361813
January 18 16:31
It’s very worrying, what with the threatened closure of the Royal and Derngate in Northampton too. It seems likely that things will get even worst when Cameron gets in, as he’s now declared himself a true Thatcherite and we all know what that means for arts funding. Perhaps we will look back on the past twelve to fifteen years as a continuum during which British theatre flourished, rather than seeing the mid-nineties as a brief, brutalist golden age. howsyourdad Comment No. 361816
January 18 16:32
I used to live in Wandsworth and BAC was possibly the only good thing about it. If this place closes then I feel really really sorry for the people of Wandsworth (especialy the members of its brilliant and vibrant youth theatre), the people of London and the country as a whole. I have friends who had no interest in theatre, visited BAC, and now they can’t get enough of it.... BAC must be saved!
DanBYC Comment No. 361836
January 18 16:40
The BAC is unique, there’s nothing like it. It’s dynamic original initiatives such as the BAC that breed this countries thriving arts and culture economy - our third biggest export - and make it worth living here. BAC works, it’s inclusive and cutting edge. Cutting the BAC’s funding doesn’t make sense.
97 Appendix
Appendix 12 Plans
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 99 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 101 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 103 Appendix
Appendix 13 Hedley Merriman Suveyors Conditions Survey
Longer Longer term restoration/ development roofReplace covering, including laths of soft in boards, approx. years. 5/10 £125,000/£145,000 To in be included 1 above. Ideally to work be undertaken within 3 year limit ideally as forerunner to general roof work. Overall cost to be £20,000. (Scaffolding question)
affolding
lding £5k
Essential/urgent inside repairs say 3 years Roofer to inspect and make runningrepairs. Should requirenot scaffo estimated cost per sloping roof if surface no scaffolding ie £10,000. Other pitched to slopes be inspected (2500) Figure minor of repairs included in above £3000 say Builder repoint, to cut out defective areas, brick cap chimneys to prevent further from damage sulphate action £10K. sc Estimated for chimneys allow brick £20,000. Allow £2000
BATTERSEA BATTERSEA OLD TOWN HALL
Annual Maintenance Quarterly annual inspection necessary as Allow £250 Annual inspection included in 1 above. Annual inspection & maintenance as necessary included in 1 above.
-
covered in covered poor, in -
ffolk brick) ffolk te te (NB original materials "green
APPENDIX A on and likely roof. replacement throughout
s s to be leaning. ill junction have been appears to re Sloping by West South roof St/Lavender Theatre to H interlocking clay (Restoration tiles. be this of would extremely expensive). The the closer of chimney out first floor looking gents' window in foyer been and has repointedtheatre poorly appear 2 chimneys over need Main House repointing.
• • • Item 1. and tilesslates Roof Appear to maintained. conditionbe reasonable sloppily in but Slates may be sla Welsh Westmoreland slate"). Nails likely be to rusted away throughoutre roof; slate clips; require evidence of will hanging of and original replacement slates slates. broken of 2.Flashing (lead) inspecti Requires Could be costly,to no implications but lead specific Heritage used. 3. chimneys (redSu Roof Require inspection, ofrepointing, brickout cutting defective areas, capping tofrom further sulphate action. prevent damage
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 2
now but discuss scaffolding. 4. Roof turrets (2, oak covered with copper, wrought iron Annual inspection & Main rear turret Allow £25,000 3 year finials) maintenance as reconstructed approx. 2 limit Require external inspection, repair/replacement of flashing, necessary years ago. Front turret (Scaffolding question) repairs/restoration as required. £500 leaking and HHM • Inspection from within Main House roof cavity suspects substantial suggests roof turret is the source of recent/current reconstruction and water leakage. Visual inspection from across street redecoration required. suggests flashing and lead facing on South side have gone. • Grand Hall roof turret needs inspection. No water staining has been noted in Grand Hall roof cavity by staff but there are some signs of damp/water damage to Grand Hal plaster ceiling: Signs of damp through electrical supply areas in East corridor suggest water is coming either from flashings on flat roof above or through Grand Hall roof space. 5. Flat roofs and parapets Annual inspection and Temporary felt roofing As part of property Closer inspection required in all areas including around Grand leaf clearance three to be replaced with lead improvement replace Hall roof and parapet to Lavender Hill. times per year. Allow as necessary existing flat surfaces • Section of flat roof by main foyer skylight has been £1000. £1500. in asphalt or lead, overlain with felt as a temporary measure, should be Re-pointing and re- associated outlets replaced with lead for durability. flashing as necessary to make good and • May require temporary felt roofing to be replaced with parapet areas including flashing replaced 5/10 lead by parapet to Lavender Hill and in other areas. Grand Hall flat roof and years • Recent water damage by Mezz Room stairs reveals South East parapet £150,000 flashing and cementing of joints on Grand Hall flat £2000/£10,000 roof (by dome) is a current concern. (roof area in this • Signs of damp through electrical supply areas in Grand location to be inspected Hall East corridor suggest water is coming either from with builder – access 105 flashings or leadwork on flat roof above or dripping difficult) Appendix
-
iron iron or -
Replacement ofReplacement plastic guttering with original cast steel ifgalvanised obtained permissions when flat roof areas are replaced or external decoration carried out £14,000 and Replacements restoration where necessary, purpose built to original design and materials: £1k per say window £40,000. Leaded windows require specialist restoration add £100 per window, say additional £2000. inFlashings this section say £4000 Total £45,000 but see –
Services Services appear sound at present but should allow £1500 overhaul third column. These works should be undertaken in next 18 months to stop serious deterioration stone to cills.
ing out ing 3 hanging of sashes as hanging as of sashes - Annual Annual inspection and clearance of birds' nests, and rubbish;seedlings 2 workweeks' per year included in 5 above. Re necessary. ofPainting external sills, cutt of window rotten joinery and redecoration, filling of areas. damages
– iron as - original cast
tend to tend bottomrot at to the but t and need will replacing
term water term wall attic toilet damage to & corridor -
ny (many are have frames standard wooden window hung sliding sash hung widows sliding sash from roof Hall Grand space. Long parapet ceiling on suggests East South side requires attention. Central roofflatis asphal approx. years. 5 Grand Hall sills are good corridor in windows: condition,but is woodwork in internal condition poor can be temporarily repaireddoesn't deteriorate so further. (in repaint wood, fill rotten Cut 5 & out next -
• • • ndition. 6. Guttering Appears to conditionbe reasonable ofin in but need more regulargrilles to chicken maintenance and wire adding and gullies do so leaves not them.Plastic guttering is block but serviceable should be replaced with part restorationof project. 7. Windows appraisal Requires to how exist and establish many windows how ma arched tops and are leaded: some window some not: are panes have been replaced with be and equivalents modern should restored). generally heartening Windows are in condition double OTHgenerally in window sashes lower good condition. Beading throughout requires variable in condition, some replacement. Sash need cords attention of in Paint throughout. regularneeds attention maintain to good windows in co
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 4
years). • Flashing has gone on sides of dormer window in attic. • Windows in middle office, attic corridor (Fuel): one has gone too far for repair and requires replacement. Frame of other(s) in reasonable condition but windowpane has been replaced with modern equivalent, ought to be restored. • Recommended conservation measure for sills: Depends on discussion stringcourses with flashing over the top has been used with Conservation on Library, BAC should probably just use flashing Officer over the top if permissions can be obtained. 8. Skylight (Theatre's foyer) Inspection by specialist Any urgent work to Allow £25,000 Requires annual rub down of joints and repainting. When say maintain condition specialist overhaul. access is available thorough check of joinery and flashing £750 undertaken. Allow say should be made external. £8000 9. Dome (Grand Hall foyer) Inspection and running £25k in next 2/2.5 Currently leaking and in need of running repair. Set aside repairs for 18 months – years. £25k for dome cover to be erected. allow £6000 (must be in keeping with structure) 10. Brickwork and pointing Preserve where access Try and undertake when Repointing and re- "Red Suffolk brick" or "red rubber brick" is porous and not an available damaged external roof works are facing/replacement of ideal material for external use. In some areas the brick is brickwork. Allow say executed. Scaffolding bricks throughout badly weathered and water damaged and requires re-facing or £5000. rental and erection costs where damaged. replacement. The original lime mortar also requires prohibitive. Attempt to Requires scaffolding – repointing. In many areas later repairs have exacerbated erect whilst other work estimate £40k for problems by using modern bricks and Portland cement –less undertaken. scaffolding alone. Say porous and has forced water into the surrounding original total including labour bricks and mortar (efflorescence), causing bricks to of £55,000. disintegrate. Major risk in case of severe winter, which would substantially increase damage, and long-term risk of dampness in building if this is not attended to. 107 • Attic stairs show internal signs of settling Appendix
ns.
The sooner conservation work undertaken the better. Scaffolding consideratio Stonework need will repairs and part replacement at some point for general wear & tear £160,000. Work should be executed at timesame exterioras work (see undertaken comments above). 5 years £20,000
-
Allow £130,000 £160,000 item. for this Again question of scaffolding. be May greater depending on condition of stonework upper to front elevation. Discuss with BAC. Decorations internally to some areas will be expensive. Allow £10,000 pa. Repair necessary as £500 pa
up and up and 5 -
No Annual touching redecoration every 3 years in public areas Inspect for defective areas once a month. Allow for £500 pa inspection.
– tales tales
- tem tem every - – ing to –
). Tell
bounds bounds electrical cupboard - of - years for public areas years for public ing stonework of throughout. 5
-
term toterm water prevent damage gett - sting sting of regarding long strength structural
15 years -
(plaster/paint cracked on ceiling walls and should be fittedto if movement see current is still repairs to be brickwork required. may Suggest lime buildingmortar around plinth protect the brickwork/blown Paintbricks. worst a with filler short worse (see above). Some masonry replacingside appears toWest on need (Theatre St) conservation Recommended measure and flashing over window can (as sills if permissions be obtained above though) Substantial weather Grand Hall require scaffolding will repainting 10 repair/restorationRecommended measure: take originalfrom out tiles looring
• • • • • • 11. & Masonry stonework Need for Lavender on closer Hill inspection masonry of façade and te liability. 12. decorationPaintwork and plaster: Plan redecorate to every 3 13. F Generally in condition, some areas require good and cleaning restoration where missing. tiles are
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 6
area and use to replace missing tiles from public areas. • Board floor through should be checked for Health and Safety. 14. Staircases Inspect monthly (allow Allow £6000 Some staircases require repairs to nosing for Health & Safety £250 pa) reasons • Main Theatre foyer stairs (white Sicilian marble) • Grand Hall fire exit stairs (grey stone) 15. Electrics Inspect immediately Replace within 2/4 years £640,000 Replace existing services, chase out and prepare ready for £750 (subject to electrical redecoration. report/discussions). BAC is aware of works required (/figure reported including associated redecoration) 16. Heating Allow £1500 pa for £225,000 including To be inspected: may require replacement of boilers for wet maintenance to existing necessary decorations. heating system plus system replacement for economy (replace system £125,000 for basic boilers for "green" considerations). system (some may be included in 15 above). 17. Basement areas Allow £4500 for No obvious signs of damp or structural problems plaster repairs 18. Asbestos BAC is aware of works required following Type 2 survey.
Notes:
1. HHM believes contingency be added to £250,000 to cover items unearthed during repairs.
2. No VAT added.
3. Fees not included. BAC would need professional support during works and to continually discuss maintenance 109 programme. Appendix
expenditure at expenditure one time. at
7 but large of but amount – time important. span – see note 10. note see
ound floor Grand floor Hall Grand included ound above is figures/or not in painting of – very complicated, specialist work for would specialist platform roof, complicated, (toobe very to have to scaffolded high – o be discussed with BAC, and o timing continued be maintenance after works discussed executed. time could cut costs by £125,000 time cut by costs could £125,000 one discuss BAC timingBAC discuss for works maintenance sums. and term long Time repairsbe of have to by would agreed The redecorationconservation gr rear of and (rear)basement Hall work?). Hall Grand included. pipe not organ Sinking t needs fund are Costs at and today's dates at inflation the factor least should have included. Fund raising respect works of question in required Need to Problems together created by finance be need If with to discussed scaffolding availability. funds available, were scaffolding at
4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft Appendix 14 London Borough Wandsworth Counterpart Lease of Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill to Battersea Arts Centre
Annexure 2 Works Programme
111 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 113 Appendix
Appendix 15 London Borough Wandsworth Counterpart Lease of Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill to Battersea Arts Centre
Condition report Hope-Jones organ, schedule of works for restoration
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 115 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 117 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 119 Appendix
Battersea Arts Centre Conservation Management Statement 2008 First Draft 121