Belfast Architecture, Northern Ireland

Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre, Cathedral Quarter 2007-11 Hackett & Hall (now Hackett Hall McKnight) International architecture competition win To replace Old Museum Arts Centre Facilities: two theatres, visual arts space, dance studios MAC Belfast This commission was won through an RIBA Open 2-stage International Competition in 2007. It is our first major commission. The brief calls for two performance spaces of 350 and 120 seats, and 1000sqm of art galleries spread over three distinct spaces. Rehearsal and dance studio space is also provided. The project proposes foyers which recall the tight streetscape of the neighbourhood - a compressed urban environment characterised by top-light. Site constraints ‘force’ the building to be high – with galleries on top of the theatres – a kind of ‘plateau’ world to which one ascends via the staircase that terraces its way up the back of the main auditorium. Above this plateau large spaces contain some dance studios and sectional manipulation allows light to be drawn through deep shafts over the main contemporary art gallery. The approach to material and construction evokes a relationship to the robust character of the preceding Victorian merchant city; large scale tough brick buildings. The construction uses the structural insitu concrete as well as the brick as an exposed finish – a high degree of consistency and ‘truth’ is sought in the constructional approach. The building addresses a new square, currently under construction as part of a new commercial development. The square is addressed with a tower that acts as a beacon in stone and bronze anodised glazing. This tower helps to locate the building, a major new cultural institution for Belfast, within the milieu of the Cathedral Quarter. The project is currently out to tender to five contractors partaking in a two stage process. The contract will be signed in February 2009 with a site start in March. Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre - Building Information Location : Cathedral Quarter Belfast Design : Competition Spring 2007 Tender : Summer 2008 Commence on site : March 2009 Client : Old Museum Arts Centre Contract value : £14.2m Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre information from Caro 311008