National Theatre
Haworth Tompkins
Archetech - Issue 20 [Page 92]
Haworth Tompkins announces the completion of NT
Future, an £80m refurbishment of the National Theatre
on London’s South Bank. Opened in 1976, the NT is one
of Britain’s most important 20th century buildings, and
arguably the masterpiece of architect Sir Denys Lasdun.
NT Future equips the National Theatre to sustain its
position at the forefront of theatre, while regenerating the
building to address a radically changed urban context.
The National Theatre was designed to be welcoming,
and openness lies at the core of NT Future. Audiences
will benefit from the Dorfman Theatre (formerly the
Cottesloe). Learning groups of all ages will be received
in the new Clore Learning Centre. Foyers have been
refreshed, and extended with an NT-run riverside café
and bar, while landscape has been regenerated around
the site. Meanwhile, the backstage workshops – perhaps
the biggest factory left in central London – will offer a
new engagement with the public both through greater
visibility from the street and an internal public viewing
gallery. Since Lasdun’s building was completed, the
public river walk has been extended, Waterloo has
been regenerated, and the South Bank has become a
new centre for London. NT Future embeds the National
Theatre at the heart of this transformation.
NT Future has had a long development. Haworth
Tompkins was appointed in 2007 to write a Conservation
Management Plan for the building, in collaboration with
the London Borough of Lambeth, English Heritage and
the Twentieth Century Society. This approach created
detailed understanding of Lasdun’s architecture as a
foundation for the NT Future proposals.