Irish studio O’Donnell + Tuomey has accomplished a brick-clad dance theatre in London that homes a 550-seat auditorium and 6 studios.
Positioned in Stratford, London, Sadler’s Wells East is the newest addition to the East Financial institution improvement on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which hosted the London 2012 Olympics.

O’Donnell + Tuomey designed the constructing, which is Sadler’s Wells‘ fourth venue, to have fun dance as an artwork type, whereas paying homage to Stratford’s industrial previous.
“Our goal was for the constructing to really feel archaic – as if it weren’t solely designed to final a very long time but additionally to appear as if it has all the time been a part of the material of the city,” stated O’Donnell + Tuomey co-founder John Tuomey.

The constructing’s exterior is wrapped in handmade Venetian brick and tiles that have been crafted from the identical clay to create a unified facade. This solidity is counterbalanced by chamfers and corbelled brick particulars so as to add texture.
“Elements of the constructing are very clean as a result of there aren’t any home windows the place the auditorium is, so we labored with bricks so as to add a degree of curiosity,” O’Donnell + Tuomey co-founder director Sheila O’Donnell defined.
“We needed to distinction the glass and steel structure surrounding the theatre by making a constructing that feels as if it has a pre-existing presence in Stratford.”

A defining characteristic of the theatre is its sawtooth roof, designed to imitate the motion of dance whereas maximising pure gentle.
“We needed the constructing to have a rhythmic composition so that you just’d be capable of see its dancing profile towards the skyline from the park,” stated Tuomey.
The fly tower, which rises above the remainder of the constructing, mirrors the proportions of the Sadler’s Wells Islington location to allow efficiency transfers between the 2 venues.
Inside, the constructing was designed to have an industrial character whereas utilizing heat supplies corresponding to oak timber flooring. The L-shaped lobby, designed to perform as a “public front room”, is lined with fully-glazed home windows that may be opened to Stratford Stroll.
Full with a restaurant and bar, the double-height lobby includes a dance flooring with an adjustable top that serves as a public efficiency house for neighborhood teams and visitor artists.

The theatre’s design is centred across the 550-seat auditorium, which occupies practically half of the constructing’s quantity. Designed in collaboration with Charcoalblue, it has retractable seating, black timber partitions and cork flooring, with a stage that matches the scale of Sadler’s Wells’ Islington venue to permit efficiency transfers.
The principle studio, positioned above the auditorium, is bigger than the auditorium stage, providing choreographers the identical spatial situations whereas offering further room to step again and evaluate their work.
“We needed choreographers to have the identical quantity of house that they’d have on stage in addition to a long way to step again from it,” defined O’Donnell + Tuomey director Jeana Gearty.

To make sure sound insulation, the auditorium and essential studio are separated by a void.
“Field-in-box development was utilised to make sure acoustic isolation,” defined Tuomey. “We did not need the impression and noise from using one house to intervene with the acoustics of the opposite.”
The studio opens onto a backyard terrace whereas smaller studios have home windows going through the encompassing parkland.
Sadler’s Wells East can even home academic and coaching amenities, together with the Rose Choreographic Faculty and Academy Breakin’ Conference.

Dublin-based O’Donnell + Tuomey was based in 1988 by O’Donnell and Tuomey. The pair have been awarded the RIAI Gold Medals in 2021 and have been the 2015 recipients of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal.
Different initiatives by the studio embody a timber and concrete pedestrian bridge at University College Cork and the V&A East, additionally a part of the East Financial institution improvement.
The pictures is by Peter Cook.