Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in north London is the only permanent outdoor theatre in the UK. During summer it opens its doors to an audience of 1,240 every evening.
The award-winning project (2013 New London Award for Public Buildings and 2014 Commendation by the Civic Trust) replaced the changing room block, added new administration offices, upgraded the workshops, refurbished the studio and created a new entrance and box office.
The new buildings, threading around existing structures and trees, form a series of linear elements culminating in the external public façade of natural and stained larch. Lightweight piles support a prefabricated, engineered timber structure that was erected on site in three weeks. The new box office is designed as a series of large folding screens to encompass several permutations of use. The black inner lining of the main door, decorated with a playful leaf pattern that alludes to the gilded ironwork of the park gates, folds out to announce the theatre when open.