Brighton Dome has been used as Victorian skating rink, a Corn Exchange, a military hospital and, since the 1860s, as a performance space. It started out as King George IV’s stable and riding house.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios led the latest transformation. The brief was to make the building capable of bringing more art to more people all year round. The Corn Exchange remains the main large flexible space hosting everything from music, dance, banquets to graduation ceremonies for the university. The Studio Theatre has increased seating capacity and two new bars and a restaurant have been added.
FCBS have let the building speak beautifully for itself by exposing the original magnificent timber roof structure and reinstating decorative timber linings.
Our brief was to help visitors find their way smoothly, to maintain the fresh feel that stripping elements of a building back to its frame can create, and to be cost effective.
As always, we start with an approach that fits the building and honours the architect’s lead.
Our signage installations mirror the elegantly simple threshold surrounds, subtly offset from the original brick and Bungaroosh walls (a style found almost exclusively in Brighton), creating a soft shadow gap detail. We used aluminium panels with a gentle fold in the level directories to highlight the current floor. We also utilised bulkheads and prominent walls to introduce identification and directional wall graphics.
The reinvigoration of the Brighton Dome would not have been possible without the generous support of many donors. We asked our good friend Andy Altmann (founding partner of Why Not Associates) to design the donor wall. Andy designed a three-storey high panel that says a fabulously well-deserved and very big thank you to everyone.
