Works to upgrade facilities at Grade II listed university theatre now complete Monday, 30th July 2018

Theatre students will benefit from improved facilities including a new refectory, library, IT suite, and common room following our work on a £2m upgrade of a Grade II listed theatre.

We carried out the work at the E15 Acting School’s Corbett Theatre, part of the University of Essex’s Loughton Campus.

It included the demolition of tired existing extensions and replacing them with two contemporary linked buildings, housing a new library, common room, IT, changing facilities, kitchen, and refectory spaces, along with external breakout areas.

The newly refurbished building will significantly improve the provision of student facilities at the Loughton Campus, making a positive impact on the surrounding landscape and overall student experience.

Chris Stammers, Director and Architect at Ingleton Wood, said: “The style of the new building complex is sensitively designed to complement the pseudo-agricultural aesthetic of the main theatre hall.  Its new extensions are deliberately subservient in scale and ordered as simple volumes, which emulates a modest collection of Essex barns nestled within the parkland landscape. 

“The architectural detailing is crisp and modern, with a material palette that cohesively ties the building group together. The internal spaces largely echo the external forms, with the principal full height vaulted space of the refectory serving as the focal student social hub for the wider campus.”

Martin Croot, Contracts Manager at building contractor TJ Evers, which carried out the construction work, added: "It’s great to be involved in such an important project that will provide a huge boost, not just to the university, its staff and students – but to the whole local community. We’re delighted with the results.”

The E15 Acting School was founded more than 50 years ago and is a leading UK conservatoire, merging with the University of Essex in 2000.

Professor Leon Rubin, Director of the E15 Acting School, said: “The improved building will serve as the student hub for the E15 campus – providing state-of-the-art facilities that will ensure we can continue to maintain the highest of standards as one of the UK’s leading theatre schools.”