Helen Grassly and Julien Boast are to give a lecture, for the Cornwall Branch of the RIBA, on the recently completed multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Hall For Cornwall in Truro. The event will take place in the refurbished venue on the evening of Monday 4th April and will include a Q&A.
The Hall For Cornwall is a performing arts venue, housing the largest theatre in Cornwall along with a cultural hub. Spanning an entire city block and including two listed buildings, the Hall had been saved from sale in the 1990s and an arena style auditorium constructed providing 900 seats. The auditorium was tired and without the atmosphere and acoustic that gives personality.
BFF’s brief was to significantly increase the theatre’s audience capacity, while providing a more intimate atmosphere with improved sightlines and acoustics and to conserve and restore important heritage elements and bring them into better use. Critically, working closely with the Theatre’s Creative Director, Julien Boast, we knew we needed to create something uniquely Cornish, not a ‘posh London’ theatre transposed.
The new auditorium, named Cornwall Playhouse, is a beautiful and flexible open space on three tiered-levels, providing a new intimate relationship between performer and audience and enabling the organisation to deliver their artistic vision. The auditorium is seen as an open space, sitting within the granite box of the original marketplace walls visible from within the theatre space. Innovative movable shutters allow the acoustic and atmosphere to be varied for drama, classical music, comedy and rock and pop gigs.
The refurbished venue provides a warmer welcome and improved audience experience, including new cafés and bar areas on both sides of the listed buildings and a space to change facility. The refurbished theatre was Shortlisted for “Theatre Building of the Year” at The Stage 2022 Awards and has been described by Sir Tim Rice, the world-famous lyricist, as “brilliantly reimagined”.
Increased access to Arts and Culture for the community of Cornwall will result from the refurbishment of the historic buildings, together with the facilities required to support a sustainable business model for the organisation. The new Husa hub (meaning ‘to create an illusion or dream’ in Cornish), will combine the venue’s artist development programmes with a dynamic and diverse co-working space; nurturing and supporting Cornish performance artists and bringing together local and creative businesses, start-ups, artists, charities and social enterprises.
Helen Grassly is a Director of Burrell Foley Fischer Architects, leading the performing arts and culture team. She has worked on award winning projects including the Almeida Theatre, The Depot Cinema in Lewes, The Lux Cinema in Hoxton, and Harbour Lights, Southampton. Her passion lies in sustainable conservation, reimagining historic buildings to provide them with a revitalised future.
She has taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate design courses at the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture and Department of Engineering, Kingston University Department of Architecture, and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University, with a focus on landscape and materiality.
Julien Boast, Chief Executive & Creative Director of Hall for Cornwall has twenty years of senior management experience in both the private and public sector. He trained at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School with a career in majoring regional theatre and in London in the West End. Prior to joining HfC, Julien spent ten years as part of The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) management team – working as Chief Executive at the company’s award-winning south east venues Theatre Royal Brighton and Churchill Theatre Bromley.
Julien is committed to utilising theatre as a force for cultural regeneration, through creating opportunities for creatives and artists to learn and practice through collaborations and exciting new digital means.
Tickets for the event are available from: