Lichfield Garrick Theatre & Studio

Named in honour of actor manager David Garrick whose family moved to Lichfield within three weeks of his birth, the Garrick opened in 2003 in a converted mid-1970s municipal civic hall. The hall had been used as an arts space with folding bleacher seating but suffered from poor ventilation. The redevelopment in 2003 inserted, within the walls, a formed auditorium complete with miniaturised fly tower, orchestra pit, stalls, circle and gallery seating. The first rows of the auditorium are flat-floored with raked seating in the remaining. The second performance area is a black box flat-floored flexible studio and there are four levels of gallery space. A very tall sliver of new foyer was added on to the former blank front of the hall which develops an elevation which dissolves the new ridge line of the auditorium into two and then four gables, whilst also creating a facade to what is developing into a new urban square. This facade has substance, with mathematical tiles hung in a cedar framing, whilst being very transparent. The auditorium is wholly naturally ventilated and passively cooled. The sustainable building methods and energy efficient state-of-the-art ventilation system won numerous awards, including the Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice and CIBSE Project of the Year in 2004. A new community stage with sound and lighting equipment and a piano opened on the top floor in 2015. Its use is free of charge to encourage artists, schools and community groups to showcase their work.