South Bank Centre London : Architecture

Rick Mather Southbank Centre Masterplan - PR 4 Oct 2007: With the installation of the new exterior lift between Southbank Centre Square and the Festival Terrace, Phase 1 of the Rick Mather Southbank Centre Masterplan is complete. The masterplan provides a framework for upgrading and extending the use of existing cultural facilities alongside major improvements to the public experience of this 22-acre strategic central London location. The site includes the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, and the BFI Southbank. The plan has been developed from 1999 to date and has proved to be a flexible framework to accommodate the challenging needs of the site. Since Rick Mather Architects were announced as the Masterplanner for Southbank Centre in 1999, the following improvements to the site have been achieved in line with the masterplan proposals: 1. Removal of the Belvedere Road side high-level walkway in front of the Royal Festival Hall forming the basis for the new Southbank Centre Square (1999). 2 New active frontage to the Belvedere Road facade of the Royal Festival Hall with the opening of Festival Cafe (2003). Completion of Southbank Centre Square (2007). 3. Discreet new production and catering servicing for the Royal Festival Hall alongside and within the arches of the Hungerford viaduct (2003). 4. New grand route between Southbank Centre Square and the Golden Jubilee Bridge lined with active frontage (2003) 5. Removal of the major portions of the old service road from around the Royal Festival Hall liberating the building and forming the basis for three new open spaces. (2003) 6. Completion of the new Festival Riverside landscape and frontage at level 1 of the Royal Festival Hall (2005) 7. New Southbank Centre building alongside Hungerford viaduct, liberating the Royal Festival Hall of offices and meeting rooms for new public uses (2007). 8. Completion of the Southbank Centre Square (2007). NEXT STEPS 9. Space made available beneath Hungerford Bridge by the elimination of the service lane being developed for new uses. Public realm improvements (better connection between levels). 10. Masterplan for the 1960s buildings (and spaces beneath Waterloo Bridge adjacent to the IMAX). New service yard. South Bank Centre - Buildings Practice established in 1973 by Rick Mather. Notable work in the arts, academic, masterplanning, commercial and residential sectors. Southbank Centre Masterplan Rick Mather Architects became masterplanner for Southbank in 1999 through a major international competition. The masterplan provides a framework for the improvement and extension of existing cultural facilities and public realm for Europe's largest cultural venue, at this important central London site. The Southbank Centre site includes the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, and the British Film Institute (comprising the National Film Theatre, the Museum of the Moving Image and the BFI library). After continuing development and refinement of the masterplan, many of the proposals have been agreed or implemented with Phase One completed and Phase Two is currently underway. Southbank Centre Situated on the south bank of the River Thames, Southbank Centre is at the heart of an arts quarter stretching from the Royal National Theatre and National Film Theatre to Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. Southbank Centre manages the Royal Festival Hall, The Hayward, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, as well as the Saison Poetry Library, the Arts Council Collection and Hayward Touring Exhibitions on behalf of Arts Council England. It attracts more than 3 million visits annually. The Royal Festival Hall reopened in June 2007 following the £115 million refurbishment of the Hall and redevelopment of the surrounding area and facilities. Allies and Morrison has worked as House Architects since 1992 and were appointed to develop the overall concept design for the renovation and restoration of the Royal Festival Hall in 1996. Gross:Max were appointed in 2003 to develop landscape designs for the open spaces around the Royal Festival Hall as defined in the Rick Mather masterplan. Spiers and Major were appointed as lighting designers as part of the Gross:Max landscape appointment. Rick Mather Architects Recent Projects - A major extension to and refurbishment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, currently on site. - A $100 m expansion and renovation of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA. Currently on site. - A new Art Gallery for the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, due for completion in early 2008. - New 21 m Art & Design Academy for Liverpool John Moores University, currently on site due for completion in 2008. - Masterplans for Barking Town Centre and Barking River Roding. - West End One, residential scheme in Central Milton Keynes with Alison Brooks Architects and HTA Architects. - New Music room for Corpus Christi College In Oxford. - New Library for the Queen’s College in Oxford. - A 1.7-acre redevelopment of the Acland Hospital Site for Keble College in Oxford, combining residential, communal, teaching and research facilities. - An extension to the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith linked to a new newly created square, completed in 2004. - A new £11 million building for the University of Lincoln, incorporating a performance space, two state-of-the-art lecture theatres and a café /exhibition space. Completed November 2003. Award Winning Projects Include: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, the Wallace Collection, London, The National Maritime Museum Greenwich, London; Homes for the Future, Glasgow; Technology Tower, University of Reading, a new Private House, Hampstead, London; the ARCO Building, Keble College, Oxford; All Glass Extension, Hampstead, London and the Times Newspaper Headquarters, London. Southbank Centre Masterplan : Rick Mather Architects