Located over five floors (10,000 sqm), the new premises brings all of Mountview’s teaching to one site, and features an extensive array of leading-edge facilities, including a 200-seat theatre, 22 dance and acting studios, music practice rooms, two TV studios and a radio suite. A new public space, café and rooftop bar were created which are open to the local community. This exceptional building also contains a scenery and prop workshop, wardrobe workrooms, as well as lettable office spaces for local companies and commercial units for catering operations.

The school building and associated studios are designed around a central ‘street’ or atrium, serving as the heart of the school where students meet, interact and informally rehearse. In response to complex technical challenges, Skelly & Couch delivered a range of innovative design solutions by:

• Developing an effective natural ventilation strategy for the dance and acting studios integrated with the aesthetics and the client’s operational requirements
• Optimising the building environment to minimise cooling and heating loads
• Delivering a robust and simple services distribution strategy throughout
• Coordinating the services infrastructure with the particularly demanding technical requirements of the theatre and teaching spaces
• Maximising the servicing of lettable commercial units in the building.

The new Mountview Academy has a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’. The site has been home to Mountview’s 400 students since September 2018. A Theatre Building of the Year Finalist in the 2020 Stage Awards. 

* Winner of a RIBA London 2021 Award * https://www.architecture.com/awards-and-competitions-landing-page/awards/riba-regional-awards/riba-london-award-winners/2021/mountview

A 2022 Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist.