Takero Shimazaki turns The Yard Theatre into permanent venue

A 23-metre crane tower now rises over The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, refashioned as a translucent ventilation chimney and the most visible marker of the venue's transformation from makeshift space into permanent theatre. Local studio Takero Shimazaki Architects carried out the revamp and extension, working largely with reclaimed materials.

The Yard Theatre opened in 2011 in a converted warehouse designed by Practice Architecture to last just three months. Takero Shimazaki Architects' redesign overhauls the existing 110-seat theatre space and extends the venue into adjacent studios and a former brewery with brick walls. The building now contains a permanent performance venue with a bar, backstage facilities and community space.

"The core discussion had been about The Yard Theatre 'growing up' and for it to have a more permanent presence in the new architecture," studio founder Takero Shimazaki told Dezeen.

What does the redesign change for audiences?

The retained brick walls of the former brewery now enclose a new 224-capacity theatre space with curved amphitheatre seating. The auditorium's pitched structural frame sits on laminated veneer lumber atop reclaimed tubular steel.

The former theatre building became a bar and public foyer. Takero Shimazaki Architects added a new roof there and retained as much of the walls, floors and windows as possible. Backstage facilities sit under the auditorium's tiered seating, and new lifts and stairs connect the bar to the upper-level seating.

Demolished materials went back into the building. Exterior bricks were reused for the stage wall and external infills.

How did the church-like form emerge?

"The building's form emerged from the playful idea of creating a civic cultural space by referring to a church-like form made from industrial light-weight materials, as well as the facade brickwork," Shimazaki said.

"The overall architectural form also created stacked boxes on top of the existing warehouse, breaking up the horizontal industrial language and creating a more monumental presence using readily available and sustainable materials," he continued.

The extended exterior was finished in fibre-cement sheeting, polycarbonate panels and colourful low-carbon bricks called K-Briq, made from more than 95 per cent recycled materials. A human-shaped sculpture by British sculptor Antony Gormley stands atop the roof of the boxy volumes.

The project team included main contractor GF Holding, fit-out contractor Karnak Developments, project director and project manager Plann, structural engineers Momentum, and theatre design consultancy Polysemic, among others.

Takero Shimazaki Architects' previous work includes a Japan-influenced overhaul of a flat in the Barbican estate and a renovated 1960s house with black-painted brickwork outside London. With a 224-seat hall replacing a 110-seat temporary setup, The Yard Theatre now has the permanent, civic-scaled home its founders never planned for in 2011.