Extension to Playhouse Theatre

This Victorian theatre was originally built as the Star Music Hall in 1866, designed by Edward Davies. The modern extension by Hall O'Donahue & Wilson, providing a restaurant, bar and buffet, offices and rehearsal room, was added in 1968. The commission was received in May 1964 and as design work progressed there was considerable uncertainty about how much money was actually available for the work. To enable the works, without closing the theatre completely, extended summer closures allowed construction to proceed. Concrete in its construction, a series of interlocking cylindrical forms with large portions of glazing are cantilevered from centrally placed columns. It is a striking and jolly composition that, despite its novelty, is seemingly balanced against its older counterpart. As phrased in the AJ, ‘the original lively façade has happily accepted a boisterous and bustling neighbour’ [1]. The additions were said to have ‘dramatically altered’ Williamson Square, but those on show were only part of the project. Behind the funky cylinders was a more conventional building made space for a new workshop area, kitchen, rehearsal room and backstage improvements. It is hard to overstate how fresh and challenging the public facing elements were, they have sort of become part of the street scene now, but black and white photographs contemporary to its completion communicate a little of its sharply contrasting presence.

[1] Architects’ Journal, 4 December 1968, p.1327