Horsham District Council

Listed building outline: ARTS CENTRE & MUSIC SCHOOL CHRISTS HOSPITAL R10010/877

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ARTS CENTRE & MUSIC SCHOOL CHRISTS HOSPITAL R10010/877

• geometry: MULTIPOLYGON (((-0.364802 51.042273,-0.364813 51.042269,-0.364798...
• entry-date: 2004-02-16
• listed-building: 1247243
• name: ARTS CENTRE & MUSIC SCHOOL CHRISTS HOSPITAL
• reference: R10010/877
• start-date: 2000-12-04
• description: RECITAL ROOM, BAND ROOM AND REHEARSAL ROOMS; THEATRE WITH FOYER AND ANCILLARY ACCOMMODATION; LIBRARY AND NINE CLASSROOMS. 1972-4 TO THE DESIGNS OF BILL HOWELL OF HOWELL, KILLICK, PARTRIDGE AND AMIS, ASSISTANTS R J MURPHY, N CATTON DI HAIGH AND R BARTON; INCORPORATING EARLIER BAND ROOM AND PRACTICE ROOMS OF c1910. STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS, HARRIS AND SUTHERLAND; THEATRE CONSULTANTS, THEATRE PROJECTS, WITH THE CLOSE COLLABORATION OF THE DIRECTOR OF DRAMA, DUNCAN NOEL-PATON. RED SOUTHWATER FACING BRICKS WITH FAIRFACED FLETTONS INTERNALLY PAINTED WHITE, FLAT ROOFS WITH TOPLIGHTS TO LIBRARY, RECITAL ROOM AND DRESSING ROOM. CONCRETE STILTS AND EXPOSED FLOOR PLATE TO RECITAL ROOMS. EARLIER ROOMS ALSO OF RED BRICK, WITH SLATE ROOFS. WOOD IS EXTENSIVELY USED INTERNALLY, NATURAL INSIDE THE CLASSROOMS AND RECITAL ROOMS, AND STAINED IN THE CORRIDORS, LIBRARY AND IN THE THEATRE. COMPLEX PLAN OF ONE AND TWO STOREYS THE MUSIC SCHOOL IS ON AXIS WITH THE MAIN BUILDING OF CHRISTS HOSPITAL, BASED AROUND THE EARLIER BAND ROOM AND PRACTICE ROOMS. RECITAL ROOM SET FORWARD OF THIS ON STILTS AND REACHED VIA SPIRAL STAIRS TO EITHER SIDE, ALLOWING SPACE FOR THE SCHOOL BAND TO ASSEMBLE UNDERNEATH. BAND ROOM AND MUSIC CLASSROOM/ LIBRARY SET BEHIND THIS, WITH PRACTICE ROOMS ARRANGED ALONG CORRIDORS TO EITHER SIDE, FORMING A SYMMETRICAL COMPOSITION. TRANSFORMER STATION FORMS LINK WITH L-SHAPED WING CONTAINING THEATRE AND CLASSROOMS THAT TOGETHER MAKE A THREE-SIDED COURTYARD TO RIGHT OF MUSIC SCHOOL. THEATRE, DRESSING ROOM AND SCENE DOCK TO REAR WITH CLASSROOM WING TO RIGHT; ENTRANCE IS IN CORNER, ON THE DIAGONAL, WITH LIBRARY OVER. COMPOSITION IS CONCEIVED AS A SERIES OF RELATED AND EXTENDED OCTAGONS. PROJECTING BRICK SURROUNDS TO DOWN PIPES FORMS A CONTRASTING PATTERN TO THE INTERPLAY OF PLANES AROUND THE PROJECTING NEAR-FULL HEIGHT TIMBER WINDOWS OF THE CLASSROOM BLOCK. THESE WHERE ORIGINALLY DARK STAINED, AS SURVIVES IN THE SCENE DOCK, BUT THE REST NOW PAINTED WHITE. STONE SURROUNDS TO THOSE IN EARLIER BUILDING. THICK TIMBER DOORS WITH GLAZED PANELS. THE WHOLE IS IMMACULATELY DETAILED, AND IS OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY. INTERIORS: STEEL SPIRAL STAIRS WITH RED TIMBER SLAT BALUSTRADES LEAD TO DOUBLE-HEIGHT RECITAL ROOM, DESIGNED FOR CHAMBER MUSIC, AND WITH STAGE AND GALLERY. BOARDED WALLS AND CEILING. BAND ROOM WITH OPEN TIMBER ROOF. ENTRANCE HALL TO THEATRE, WITH BOX OFFICE FOR PUBLIC PERFORMANCES, HAS CENTRAL WHITE-PAINTED CONCRETE COLUMN, WITH VARNISHED TIMBER CEILING. PLAQUE COMMEMORATES THE ARCHITECT, BILL HOWELL (1922-73). THE LIBRARY ABOVE HAS SLATTED TIMBER GALLERY REACHED VIA INTERNAL TIMBER STAIRS, BUILT-IN BOOKCASES AND TIMBER CEILING. TIMBER CEILINGS ALSO TO CORRIDORS. THE THEATRE WAS DESIGNED FOR FLEXIBILITY, CAPABLE OF ADAPTION BY BOY POWER EITHER AS AN END-STAGE PROSCENIUM OR AS AN ARENA WITH 450-580 SEATS. THERE ARE THREE ONE-ROW DEEP GALLERIES AND A SLIGHTLY RAKED PIT; THE BALCONIES CONTINUE ALL AROUND THE AUDITORIUM, SO THAT THEATRE IN THE ROUND IS POSSIBLE, ALTHOUGH RARELY VENTURED. TIMBER BENCHES GALLERIES AND CEILING ARE STAINED RED. CHRISTS HOSPITAL IS THE FIRST COURTYARD THEATRE IN ENGLAND. THE FORMAT ANTICIPATES, WITH GREATER ARCHITECTUAL SOPHISTICATION, THAT INTRODUCED AT THE COTTESLOE THEATRE INSERTED INTO THE NATIONAL COMPLEX IN 1973 AND THE BUILDING OF THE SWAN THEATRE AT STRATFORD UPON AVON IN 1986. ALL THESE THEATRES HAVE A SIMILAR CAPACITY BUT THIS IS SIGNIFICANTLY BOTH INNOVATIVE AND UNUSUALLY ARCHITECTURAL. THE LATE 1960S AND 1970S SAW THE EMERGENCE OF THE IDEAL THEATRE AS A FLEXIBLE BLACK BOX, AN INTEREST IN 'FOUND SPACES' AND A CONSCIOUS REACTION AGAINST THE BIG BUDGET NATIONAL THEATRE UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR MOST OF THE DECADE. ALONG WITH THE BARBICAN THEATRE, CHRIST'S HOSPITAL IS UNIQUE IN ITS ARCHITECTURAL PANACHE. IT IS ALSO SUCCESSFUL AS A THEATRE, FOR THE VISITING ADULT COMPANIES AS WELL AS FOR THE SCHOOLCHILDREN. AS NOEL-PATON WROTE IN 1995, 'ITS TIMELESS DESIGN REMAINS A PERFECT FRAME FOR OUR EXTENSIVE PROGRAMME OF EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL WORK'. FOR COLIN AMERY, IT IS 'A UNIQUE THEATRE THAT SUCCESSFULLY SOLVES THE ALMOST INTRACTABLE PROBLEM OF FLEXIBILITY...HKPA HAVE CREATED FOR CHRIST'S HOSPITAL SOME OF ITS BEST BUILDINGS; ALONGSIDE ASTON WEBB THEY REPRESENT AN IMAGINATIVE RESPONSE TO AN INSTITUTIONAL SITUATION.' SOURCES; ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW, VOL.CLVII, NO.936, FEBRUARY 1975, PP.76-83 SHERBAN CANTACUZINO, ED.' HOWELL, KILLICK, PARTRIDGE AND AMISS: ARCHITECTURE, LONDON, LUND HUMPHRIES, 1981, PP.102-3. RONNIE MULRANE AND MARGARET SHEWRING, MAKING SPACES FOR THEATRE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, 1995, P.1964.
• uprns: 010003085019