The David Brownlow Theatre, located at Horris Hill School in Newtown, was designed by Jonathan Tuckey Design as a multifunctional space to enhance the arts and drama curriculum within the school and surrounding community.

The David Brownlow Theatre, located in Newtown, UK, is an educational facility, with a theatre designed by Jonathan Tuckey Design as a multifunctional space to enhance the arts and drama curriculum within the school.

The theatre's design and construction also serve as a learning tool, demonstrating the principles of sustainable building practices to students and the wider community and is located on 85 acres containing woods, sports pitches, and a kitchen garden.

The theatre can host school assemblies, music recitals, and drama productions. The development comprises three unique spaces, that include a 160-seat auditorium and performance space; a congregating space around the entrance portico; an outdoor amphitheatre on the south elevation, facing the woods and school playing fields, which extends the theatre stage into the surrounding Arcadian landscape. Outside of teaching hours, the theatre is open to the wider community through local theatre clubs and groups.

The primary material used in the construction of the theatre is cross-laminated timber (CLT), a sustainable and versatile building material. The specific products used include Sylva™ CLT Floors and Roofs, and Sylva™ CLT Walls, all of which are of industrial visible quality (IBI). The exterior is clad with red Viroc wood fibre panelling.

Acoustics

The theatre includes light grey acoustic panels throughout the space to absorb sound and prevent echoes. Some of the wall panels are perforated for ventilation, others are padded. The undulating ceiling is finished in a deep dark blue to represent the night sky and has been acoustically modelled to project sound from the stage into the auditorium. (Architronic).

This panelling helps ensure performances are heard clearly and without distortion, enhancing the overall experience for the audience. The arrival sequence is through an entrance lobby, acoustic threshold and entrance corridor into the auditorium with the stage, backstage area and loading bay to the rear.

'The integration of room acoustics design and architectural design is represented in just a few key features. The timber structure is left exposed and the room maintains a lively sound, which promotes the loudness of young voices. The sinuous ceiling not only provides visual relief to the otherwise rectilinear form but is also optimised to provide clear sound reflections across the audience area from all stage positions. The articulation of the walls provides architectural texture while also scattering sound. The simple patterns are scaled to the wavelengths found in the spoken word'. Acoustic consultant Gavin Green, senior partner, design, Charcoalblue for the AJ.

Construction 

The construction process was efficient and well-coordinated. The CLT components were delivered in three shipments over a period of two weeks. The entire construction duration was 13 months, a relatively short timeframe for a project of this scale and complexity. This efficiency can be attributed to the prefabricated nature of the elements, which allowed for quick assembly on-site and the excellent relations by our partners: Eurban.

Awards

Wood Awards 2021: highly commended in the Building's category.

Dezeen Awards 2021: Longlisted in the Cultural Building category.

RIBA South Awards 2023: Shortlisted.

Building Awards 2021: Shortlisted for the Small Project of the Year (up to £5m) category.

Sustainability data

Total energy load 257.4 kWh/m²/yr

Carbon emissions 44.9 kgCO₂/m²

Airtightness at 50Pa 3 m³/hr/m² 

Area-weighted U-value 0.26 W/m2K

(Source)