Welcome to Roundhouse Works - a creative centre designed specifically for young people. Owing to its success as an iconic cultural venue hosting legendary bands, including Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, and many more, Roundhouse extended its operations and opened ‘Roundhouse Works’ in 2023.

The new building allows the non-profit organisation to double the number of young people who directly benefit from its services to 15,000. The majority are from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the centre enables them to learn new skills, build confidence, and make connections to equip them to work in creative industries.

Designed by Paddy Dillon architect and Reed Watts Architects, with Allies and Morrison, Roundhouse Works boasts an interactive multipurpose workspace to work creatively, access workshops, and access networking events. The internal spatial sequence ranges from large open-plan coworking spaces facing Chalk Farm Road to multipurpose studios for various creative activities.

Located on the raised "service yard" behind the original venue, the new building sits in the former railway sidings that once served the adjacent railway lines. The studios are housed in two metal cubes. The ancillary spaces and co-working office space, which hug the edge of the site, are clad in reclaimed railway sleepers.

The ground floor of the building set approximately three metres above the street below, includes digital facilities for rehearsal, recording and live broadcast alongside a seminar space, meeting rooms and affordable workspace for young creative entrepreneurs and freelancers where members will receive mentoring and support.

On the first floor, a triple-height studio provides space for large-scale performing arts skills, including aspiring circus performers. A second studio provides an acoustically sealed space for bands and other musicians to rehearse.

The size of the volumes needed to accommodate the large circus studio that has a 7m-high internal clearance for aerial and trapeze work but also stay within the restrictions by planners to maintain views of the circular roof on the main building.

Specification

The cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure supplied by UK mass timber specialists, EURBAN was the obvious solution to address a number of these design brief requests.

The trees used to make the CLT sequestered nearly 300 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere, and also avoided the need for secondary finishes in many spaces. Thus the Sylva CLT Walls and Floor slabs could be left exposed in many spaces and sized to achieve fire compartmentation. Plasterboard was used for acoustic separation and to enhance fire separation.

The high-quality industrial visual grade allowed the CLT to be exposed as the visual layer of the walls and ceiling. The thermal properties of the natural wood continue to contribute towards reducing the non-profit's monthly heating bills as they have a high-performing thermal envelope too.

Sylva™ Services by Stora Enso

The prefabricated CLT elements were protected with End Grain Sealer and Temporary Membrane to reduce the risk of water ingress via the end grain during the construction phase which also helped avoid possible delays waiting for the wood to dry out or any expensive remedial work. delays waiting for the wood to dry out or any expensive remedial work. 

Carbon footprint of CLT used in this project

Manufacturing 14 tonnes CO₂e

Transporting 21 tonnes CO₂e

298 tonnes CO₂ removed from the air and stored in Roundhouse Works

Emissions avoided by using wood instead of non-renewable construction materials 447 tonnes CO₂e

Annual CO₂ emissions of the building 18.5 kgCO₂/m²

Designed for a predicted design Life 60 years

(Architect's Journal)

Awards

BREEAM 'Excellent' sustainability accreditation

2024 Structural Timber Awards -commercial building of the year - nomination

Winner of 2024 Civic Trust Special Award for Community Impact & Engagement

Theatre Building of the Year at the Stage Awards

Text adapted from the architect's website and the AJ Journal