Norden Farm Arts Centre

Situated on a farm site which had been sold for development, about a mile from Maidenhead, the arts centre comprises a courtyard-style theatre accommodating 225, a Georgian farm house and a C18th long barn. The house and barn are listed buildings, and so the theatre was excavated up to 4.5m so as not to create too stark a contrast to their fragility. There is a reflective glass link between the buildings. The courtyard theatre is slightly futuristic, the exterior having somewhat plain elevations.

The interior of the courtyard theatre is four-sided with one balcony, but designed to accommodate other formats and uses; thus most floor levels are adaptable by means of lifting platforms. This auditorium design is angular compared with recent contemporary courtyard designs; there is much use of link mesh and a tensioned-wire grid covers the whole area. There has been a very strong emphisis on acoustic quality allowing first-rate recording facilities; film and projection are also an extremely important part of the programme.

The studio theatre accommodates 100. The long barn offers educational and restaurant facilities, and there are meeting/workshop rooms and offices in the farm house.

The project has been supported by the National Lottery Fund, and is the brain-child of David Hill.