{"id":642661,"date":"2026-10-27T09:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642661\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T09:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:30:46","slug":"our-loos-theyre-inspired-by-milans-villa-necchi-the-reborn-planks-and-plasterboard-theatre-trouncing-its-flashy-neighbours-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642661\/","title":{"rendered":"Our loos? They\u2019re inspired by Milan\u2019s Villa Necchi! The reborn planks-and-plasterboard theatre trouncing its flashy neighbours | Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the 2012 Olympics, the skyline of Hackney Wick in east London has bristled with cranes. The athletes may be long gone but the legacy of the sporting spectacle<\/a> rolls on, as developers continue to extract profits from rising land values around the Olympic park. Across the canal, in this former industrial edgeland, there are more cranes than ever, busily hoisting prefabricated brick cladding panels into place, wrapping the latest loft-living concepts with a veneer of industrial chic. Where factories once stood, replicas of factories have risen, complete with sawtooth roofs and Crittall-esque windows, offering concierge-serviced views of the surrounding regeneration-scape.<\/p>\n

But among all the crane towers, one is different from the rest. It stands still, now relieved of its duties, and encased in a silvery sheath of polycarbonate. Big red letters cling to the shimmering shaft, spelling out the new home of the Yard theatre<\/a>. Once used to haul bits of buildings, the steel crane tower now serves as a beacon-cum-ventilation shaft, glowing by night while exhausting stale air from the theatre below.<\/p>\n

It is one of many elements of this striking, low-budget building that have been cleverly reused and recycled, bringing economical pizzazz to the energetic young establishment. Founded in 2011 in a former printworks, the plucky warehouse theatre has come of age, with a \u00a34m new building on the same site \u2013 and Ian McKellen set to star in the next show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Will the actors\u2019 knees be able to take it? \u2026 the concrete stage. Photograph: Oliver Wainwright<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only expected it to last a few months,\u201d says Jay Miller, founder and artistic director of the Yard, describing the theatre\u2019s first incarnation. He cannily secured a cheap lease by pitching to the building\u2019s owner that he could eliminate their security costs by occupying the vacant warehouse. He then hired the recent graduates of Practice Architecture<\/a> to conjure an ad hoc auditorium<\/a> on a shoestring. Their beguiling bricolage of butcher\u2019s curtains, pink plasterboard and scavenged scaffolding planks lasted more than a decade and drew a loyal local crowd, staging shows that transferred to the National Theatre, became Bafta-winning television and won an Olivier award.<\/p>\n

Miller, ever on the lookout for funding opportunities, saw a chance to expand when plans were mooted to redevelop the surrounding Queen\u2019s Yard into a mixed-use district<\/a>. That project never materialised, but Miller succeeded in leveraging \u00a33m of CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) from the London Legacy Development Corporation \u2013 the post-Olympic regeneration body \u2013 to fund the new theatre. In effect, the apartment blocks rising all around the Yard helped to pay for its existence.<\/p>\n

Spell it out \u2026 the theatre\u2019s name in the multicoloured recycled brickwork. Photograph: Oliver Wainwright<\/p>\n

The resulting project is far more than the usual \u201cplanning gain\u201d token of community benefit. The work of Takero Shimazaki<\/a>, a Tokyo-born Londoner who was shortlisted for the Stirling prize last year<\/a> for an elegant timber and stone-roofed house, it is a tour de force of how to do a lot with a little. It reads like a collage of its context: a shed clad with corrugated fibre-cement sheeting, rising from graffiti-covered warehouse walls on one side and framed by a new brick gable end on the other. The bricks include subtle shades of blue, yellow and magenta, in a nod to the previous printworks, while the name of the theatre is spelt out in the brickwork, recalling the faded factory signs of the area. In keeping with the waste-not ethos, these K-Briqs<\/a>, manufactured in Scotland, are unfired and made of 95% construction waste, recycling 16 tonnes of waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill and saving the equivalent of 3.5 tonnes of CO2 that regular bricks would have emitted.<\/p>\n

There is a grandeur to the new theatre\u2019s form. With its central tower and symmetrical pitch roof, Shimazaki says the Yard was inspired by Palladian churches to bring a sense of permanence, as if the building might have been here far longer than it has. \u201cThe Yard was interested in the idea of permanence in theatre, and fakery in architecture,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd how to build something grownup with not much money.\u201d Mirrored panels in some of the windows bring a theatrical touch, while bright pink guttering and yellow coping blend with the local street art vernacular. Miraculously, for now, the new brickwork remains graffiti free.<\/p>\n

One of the first shows \u2026 for colored girls who have considered suicide \/ when the rainbow is enuf<\/a> \u2013 Photograph: Philip Vile<\/p>\n

Entering through big double doors \u2013 emblazoned with \u201copen me up now\u201d \u2013 you find a large open foyer and cafe, with walls and banquettes in rich shades of burgundy, while a glossy blue bar is framed with bands of teal and green, recalling a Josef Albers painting. Gold-painted columns add a touch of theatrical bling, which will be cranked up a notch next year when a vestibule is installed. Designed by artist Ed Atkins<\/a>, it will usher theatregoers through a dramatic ruched silver curtain. The loos add further sparkle, inspired by the bathroom at the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan<\/a>, with glossy black tiles, shiny brass fittings and coloured lino floors \u2013 \u201ca little bit of economical opulence\u201d, as Shimazaki puts it.<\/p>\n

So what of the theatre itself? A central staircase leads up through a dark passage to the new auditorium, where the architects had to strike a tricky balance. \u201cWe wanted to retain what people loved about the old space,\u201d says Miller, \u201cand evolve what wasn\u2019t as functional.\u201d It has the same bare bones quality as before, with an exposed back wall built with bricks salvaged from the site, a concrete stage (actors\u2019 knees won\u2019t thank them), and curved, raked seating in the manner of an amphitheatre. The plastic cafe seats were upgraded for upholstered communal benches.<\/p>\n

\u201cEpic and intimate at the same time\u201d was the brief, and Shimazaki has risen to the challenge, creating a 250-capacity space \u2013 more than double the previous theatre \u2013 that is at once cosy and grand. Continuing the fakery theme, the cast concrete-looking seating structure is actually cement particle board, while banks of radiators hidden below the seats keep bums warm while aiding the passive stack ventilation system. As before, what you see is what you get: there are no wings, no fly tower, nowhere for the actors to hide. \u201cWe wanted to amplify the sense of liveness,\u201d says Miller. \u201cAfter all, that\u2019s what makes theatre unique.\u201d It still feels raw \u2013 although performers now benefit from the luxury of dressing rooms, tucked beneath the seating, saving them from dashing to beat the audience to the loos in the interval.<\/p>\n

Inspired by Palladian churches \u2026 the corrugated fibre-cement cladding Photograph: Philip Vile<\/p>\n

Around the other side of the building, the graffitied warehouse offices are being transformed into a youth hub by Jeremy Deller and architect educators Matt+Fiona, alongside local schoolchildren. It\u2019s part of an Arts Council-funded series<\/a> that has also seen an Antony Gormley figure appear on the roof \u2013 visible from the elevated platform of Hackney Wick station \u2013 with further commissions and community collaborations in the works.<\/p>\n

The ad hoc ingenuity on show puts what is emerging across the other side of the park into sharp relief. One of the biggest components of the Olympic legacy is the \u201ccultural quarter\u201d of East Bank<\/a> in Stratford, a \u00a31.1bn colossus that houses branches of the V&A, Sadler\u2019s Wells theatre, BBC studios, University of the Arts London and University College London, soon to be garnished with towers of unaffordable flats. The presence of these institutions is welcome \u2013 but despite the big budgets, top architects and endless design review panels, the results feel less than world class.<\/p>\n

It is a cumbersome beast, designed by committee and airlifted in from on high, begat from the loins of mayors hungry for legacies. The Yard, by contrast, shows how a young, agile team with a fraction of the resources can achieve so much, building a project that feels truly grown from its place.<\/p>\n