Hull Truck Theatre
Hull Truck Theatre
This new £10.8m theatre building on Ferensway Road, Hull replaced the theatre company's previous home on nearby Spring Street which it has occupied for the previous 26 years.
Considered one the most sustainable performing spaces in the UK at the time of its completion in 2009, the 440-seat Hull Truck Theatre reflects the company's reputation for engagement with the audience.
The three-storey building comprises a central auditorium, a smaller studio theatre and supporting front and back of house facilities. The structure is designed as a reinforced-concrete frame and a reinforced-concrete auditorium with a 21m clear spanning roof supported on steel trusses. The front elevation is a special structure generated by the desire to create a translucent elevation with a deep cantilevering wall clad with brick hanging out over the entrance.
Working in collaboration with Wright & Wright architects, Max Fordham, Sound Space Theatre Planning & Acoustics and Anne Minors Performance Consultants, brick was used to situate the theatre amid the grand warehouses of Hull, while a foyer containing bars and café are prominently displayed in the window within, all three enveloped by the warm brick skin that forms the building’s exterior.
Performance spaces have innovative environmental solutions – the main auditorium seats 450 and the flexible studio theatre which holds 150 use passive ventilation and low-energy heating methods. The auditorium cleverly incorporating a passive ventilation system that relies on warm audience interaction. As the fresh air passes over the audience, it collects heat and rises naturally; with the high-level lighting augmenting this effect. Consequently the need for mechanical cooling has been minimised.
The theatre was central to Hull's successful bid for 2017 UK City of Culture status; even hosting the victory party!
Awards:
Civic Trust Award 2010
Civic Trust Special Award for Inclusive Design 2010
BCIA Award 2010
BCIA Prime Minister’s Award 2010: Shortlisted
RIBA Award 2010
Best UK Public Building: Brick Awards 2009
Building of the year: RIBA White Rose Award 2009
Sustainable Futures : RIBA White Rose Award 2009
Gold Award for Architecture: RIBA White Rose Award 2009
Winner of Remarkable Visitor Attraction, East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (2016)
UK Most Welcoming Theatre Award, Yorkshire and the Humber (2016)
Welcome to Yorkshire’s Yorkshire Arts & Culture Award (2015)
Client: Hull Truck Theatre Company
Architects: Wright & Wright