In detail: Young Vic Theatre, central London

11 June, 2007

Architect: Haworth Tompkins

Cladding consultant: Montrésor Partnership

Artist: Clem Crosby

Striking new cladding to the main auditorium gives the redeveloped Young Vic theatre a dramatic presence on the street. An aluminium mesh screen has been suspended in front of panels painted by artist Clem Crosby that cover the exposed sides of the theatre building.

The raft foundation, ground-floor walls and first-floor balconies of the existing auditorium have been preserved and a new steel-framed structure built around them to support a new roof, facade and lighting gantries (see In Detail November 11, 2005).

New perimeter access corridors and external walls provide much needed acoustic insulation to the auditorium. Additional loading of the raft is not possible so a steel frame spans over the existing structure and is supported independently on piled foundations in the corners.

The new external walls are made from prefabricated timber panels hung from giant steel trusses that transfer the loads to the corner columns. The concrete floors of the perimeter access corridors transfer horizontal wind load into concrete ring beams cast onto the existing block walls.

Horizontal aluminium cladding rails are fixed directly to the timber panels. Vertical rails are fixed to the horizontal rails to provide a continuous ventilation gap behind the painted rainscreen cladding panels.

The aluminium mesh panels are fixed to stainless-steel brackets screwed to the horizontal cladding rails. There is not much adjustment in the brackets so the mesh panels have had to be precisely made to fit the grid of supports.

At dusk the irregular yellow brush strokes and mesh screen are floodlit from below so the whole facade appears like a curtain waiting to open on the performance behind.

Detail drawing and text by Graham Bizley. Originally published October 13 2006.

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