BFF 30th Anniversary - Collins Music Hall

Burrell Foley Fisher LLP were invited to participate in a limited competitive selection process for a new theatre venue on the site of the former Collins Music Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1957.  

The brief called for an adaptable theatre space of 600-700 seats to address the different requirements of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre thrust stage productions and those of the Manchester Royal Exchange in-the-round productions, as well as end stage formats for other access.  The alternative in-the-round, thrust and end stage options are manipulated using towers and seating wagons floating on air castors

Nothing remains of the former auditorium save an empty space (last used as a timber yard) buried deep within the site and accessed only by a long carriage passage.  Waterstones bookshop already occupied the front of the building facing Islington Green.

A new wrought language was developed for the auditorium drawing inspiration from the structural clarity of gasometers, or the emcompassing excitement generated by the form of a bullring.  The foyer area was to be multi-layered, with a glazed roof and west wall to entice patrons along the dark passage.  Tantalising views are given into the auditorium from the foyers through sliding shutters, which close when the show is ready to begin. 

BFF 30th Anniversary - Renoir Cinema

The facelift of the former Gate Bloomsbury was completed in 1986 within just seven weeks and, on a budget of £80,000.  Notwithstanding the tight budget the scheme successfully evoked the feel of a French Art House and attracted a loyal cinema going audience.  The decoration incorporates cream walls with a curve free pattern in dark grey.  The bar has a black laquer finish, mirrors and the carpet was designed to reinterpret the entrances to 1930’s French apartment buildings. 

There was insufficient budget to readdress problems arising from the twinning of the original single screen however new seating was installed in light blue velvet and the front of house areas improved.  The strong graphic identity for the Renoir is used to mark the entrance through a Miesian box on the forecourt to the Brunswick Centre.  This has proved to be an inspiration to photographers and we have curated a collection of our favorites published on Flickr.     

Click here to see the full size images on Flickr

Visit the Renoir cinema website

BFF 30th Anniversary - Brighton West Pier

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was appointed by St Modwen Properties Plc as heritage architects for the restoration of the West Pier in Brighton.  A full architectural scheme for the restoration of the pier to its original design was prepared by the Practice, based upon a combination of surveys of the remaining structure and historic research.  However a catastrophic storm in June 2004 brought restoration plans to a halt. 

John Burrell’s association with the Pier goes back to his student days when he prepared measured drawings of the kiosks and the entire pier.  These are now deposited with the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Bliss Mill

The Restored Mill

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was commissioned to bring a new lease of life to the derelict buildings of Bliss Mill, Listed Grade II, built by William Bliss II in 1873 for the weaving of high-quality tweeds. The project involved converting and restoring the main Mill Building, the weaving shed, the Warping House, the Lodge House and outbuildings into residential accommodation, with landscaped grounds, a swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts and other leisure facilities for use by residents. The restoration work included administering an English Heritage Grant for fabric repairs.

The Derelict Mill prior to restoration

BFF 30th Anniversary - Frensham Heights Performing Arts Centre

The performing arts centre is a new theatre built for both teaching use and public performance, including dance, drama and music.  The auditorium, with a seating capacity of 340, is modelled on double cube proportions, creating a very adaptable space rising in three tiers to an exposed, trussed rafter roof.  Staging can be arranged in a variety of layouts to suit the performance space required: from an open-end stage to a proscenium frame; and from a thrust stage to theatre-in-the-round.  The seating can be electronically retracted to the rear wall to give a level floor surface throughout.  Each of the staging configurations can be set up by three people in about 45 minutes.

The building is sited within the grounds of an Edwardian Mansion, which accommodates the main part of the school, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  It rests calmly behind a screen of mature oak trees, through which the lively foyer areas can be seen from the direction of approach.

Awards for the building include The Farnham Society Amenity Award 2001, The Royal Fine Art Commission/Sky TV ‘Building of the Year Award’ in the Education Category 2001, The Timber Industry Award 2001, The Waverley Design Award 2001 and a Civic Trust Award 2003.

Visit the Frensham Heights School website

BFF 30th Anniversary - St Georges Estate

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was selected by the Estate Steering Group (working with EastendHomes) to develop a masterplan and design proposals to RIBA Stage C for St George’s Estate in Shadwell, London. 

200 new flats in ten, 9 storey, new infill sites

The brief from EastendHomes called for extensive consultation with the Estate’s residents, a third of whom are leaseholders within a significant Bengali community, and the preparation of a masterplanning report.  Burrell Foley Fischer LLP’s design proposals were included in the offer document on which Council tenants based their ‘yes’ vote to transfer the management of the estate from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to EastendHomes.

The new infill sites currently under construction

St George’s Estate has 500 residential units which are to be brought into line with the standards set out in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Decent Homes policy. Proposals explored how to make the best use of available land to improve the organisation of public and private space.  The homes are to be set in surroundings that people value and enjoy, but that also offer a long-term sustainable future for St George’s.  The project is currently on site.

The first new homes to be completed

BFF 30th Anniversary - Boiler House, Royal Holloway

The original complex of Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, is a grand 19^th Century red brick building dressed in stone by WH Crossland.  The site also includes another building by Crossland, a boilerhouse, which was until 1968 used to provide the university’s heat and power.

The Royal Holloway drama department took over the building and decided to turn it into a centre for experimental theatre.  Burrell Foley Fischer LLP won a competition to undertake the conversion.  The brief was not to create any sort of auditorium – the space was to be left bare so that it could be filled with the imaginations of the theatre directors.

The interior of the boilerhouse was acoustically insulated, weatherproofed and given a new sprung floor, but otherwise the “found space” aesthetic is retained and not smartened up.  

BFF 30th Anniversary - Kino Cinema

Kino Hawkhurst was the first all digital screen in the UK. The design addresses the challenge of providing a stylish and comfortable environment for enjoying film within the constraints of a listed church hall and a phenomenology tight budget.  The auditorium is an insertion within the church hall and was detailed to address the acoustic and technical requirements of a cinema without damage to the original fabric of the building.  If the cinema ceased to operate within the hall, it could be stripped out to reveal the original painted timber boarded ceiling and walls, elaborately detailed window frames and reveals and timber trusses.

The technical requirements of the brief to accommodate acoustic absorption, house and emergency lighting and a surround sound installation have been used to create a striking interior based on an interpretation of a Paul Klee painting.  While evoking the identity of an art house the cinema has proved popular with cinema goers of all ages including teenage audiences.  A café bar and landscaped courtyard has also been provided.  The design of front of house areas, while respecting the character of the building carries through the colour palette used in the auditorium.  The gridded design for the cinema has been adopted as the Kino logo.

Victoria Hall, Hawkhurst (David Anstiss) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Visit the Kino Cinema Website

BFF 30th Anniversary - Hampstead School

An original feasibility study and development plan was undertaken by BFF in 1996 to establish a long-term strategy for the development of the School’s facilities.  The scope of the study included the acquisition of Technology College Status; a new library; IT and private study facilities; new teaching spaces, including classrooms, science labs and technology workshops; a new Sixth-Form Centre; improved sports, drama and performance facilities; improved access, circulation and playground facilities; and the introduction of full disabled access throughout the school.

Roof extension to form Sixth-Form Centre

In 1998, following the acquisition of Technology College Status, a new IT classroom was constructed and informal IT access within the existing school library on a new mezzanine level was introduced.  In early 2003 BFF was commissioned to undertake the detailed design of the first phase of the long-term development plan (the new Sixth-Form Centre) and to obtain planning permission for this and the second phase, the creation of a new school entrance, reception and administration facilities.

New build extension including professional catering kitchen teaching facilities

Work on the third phase of the project, the development of the existing Victorian building which houses the Technology Block, was completed in 2007 in a two-storey extension to the main building providing new workshops for vehicle maintenance, painting and decorating, etc.  The most recent phase is a new build extension which includes specialist ICT and general purpose classrooms, and a professional catering kitchen teaching space.

Panorama of the school grounds

Owing to the nature of the project, all of the works have been planned and sequenced in order to minimise disruption to teaching and to avoid the need to decant pupils to temporary classrooms or alternative sites.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Tomorrow's New Communities

A concept using the contemporary vision of a small town to inform the transformation of former asylums (often with listed buildings and landscapes) into communities or urban quarters.

John Burrell’s ground-breaking and award-winning work on the reuse of institutional brownfield NHS land was published in 1987 with the aid of an RIBA Research Award as ‘The Psychiatric Hospital as a New Community’. It has had far-reaching influence on planning policy and John Burrell became a member of the Labour Party working group on Urban Design and Planning.

In 1991 it was the outright winner of the joint Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Town and Country Planning Association competition for ‘Tomorrow’s New Communities’ for new settlements between 4,000 and 10,000 people.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Institute for Government

The Institute for Government is an independent centre formed in 2008 to help make government more effective. They aims are to carry out research, look into the big governance challenges of the day and find ways to help government improve, rethink and sometimes see things differently.  Burrell Foley Fischer LLP were the Architects for the refurbishment and remodelling of the Institute’s new Listed Grade II* headquarters in Central London. 

The building incorporates space for researchers, training and social events, a boardroom, a lecture theatre, meeting rooms, offices, a library and dining and reception facilities.  

BFF 30th Anniversary - Harbour Lights Cinema, Southampton

A landmark building located in the former P&O docks, provides two auditoria for film and video exhibition and conferences, an exhibition space, a café bar and education facilities.  The design celebrates the experience of cinema going, and being the antithesis of the black-box space, it provides a contrast to its multiplex rivals.  The foyers, café bar and offices have an open aspect which fully exploit the centre’s dockside location.

The building, completed in 1995, was shortlisted for The Sunday Times/Royal Fine Art Commission Building of the Year Award 1995 and gained a Civic Trust Commendation 1997.  Harbour Lights is attributed with having had a leading influence on the design of a new generation of cinemas.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Theatre Royal Winchester

The building started life in 1850 as a market hotel and through a number of transformations became a cine-variety theatre.  It was subsequently used as a cinema until the mid 1970s when it was brought back into use as a theatre after threatened demolition.  Prior to development, the Theatre Royal suffered from extremely cramped front- and back-of-house areas.  The acquisition of two adjacent Listed Georgian terraced buildings offered the opportunity for comprehensive renovation and extension of the existing building.

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP won a design competition to develop a new strategy for the Theatre, providing a new entrance foyer, a bar foyer in a covered courtyard, improved stage and backstage facilities, as well as a comprehensive programme of refurbishment and improvements to the auditorium, seating capacity 420. Careful articulation of the building’s surface textures, materials and spaces has allowed the history of successive generations of use to be revealed while opening up new and delightful spaces.

Awards for the building include The Winchester City Council Award for Good Architecture 2001 and a Civic Trust Award 2003.

BFF 30th Anniversary - British Museum Temporary Shop

Happy New Year.  2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Burrell Foley Fischer.  Over that period we have become recognised as one of the leading practices specialising in buildings for cinema, media and the performing arts, together with urban design, residential and educational design and the adaptation and restoration of historic buildings. We are proud that the buildings designed by the Practice stand the test of time and are being used and enjoyed by large numbers of people every single day, whether as places to live, to work, to learn, to collaborate or simply to socialise and relax.

Over the course of this anniversary year we will take the opportunity to look back at a number of our schemes, those that were built and those that never progressed beyond the drawing board (of course in the early days it really was the drawing board!).  Starting with a project designed to exist for just three years...

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP won a design competition in July 1997 to design a temporary shop on the forecourt of the British Museum while the existing shop was decommissioned for the Great Court Project.  The challenge was to design a contemporary building that could sit happily in front of Smirke’s great portico and that would provide an accessible, enticing environment for trading by December 1997.

A simple trabeated structure of large Douglas Fir sections, reflecting the rhythm of the adjacent colonnade, allowed the shop to evoke references to the origins of the Museum’s classical architecture in the primitive hut.  The shop was designed so that it could be taken down after three years leaving no trace on the forecourt, obviating the need for Listed Building Consent.