Tuke Manton architects have been commissioned by Notre Dame School to develop a new performing arts centre. The site is located at Burwood House, Convent Lane, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1HA. The School has a 400 year old tradition and expertise in educating girls, and has been established in Cobham for 70 years. The School educates 760 children from primary school to Senior School. A detailed description and more information about the school can be found on their website at www.notredame.co.uk.

The brief is to design a 370 seat theatre and new drama studio with support spaces. The proposal is to demolish the existing hall and garage to allow the new building to be linked into the existing dining area. At an early stage in the design process it was recognised that the budget would not allow all of the school’s requirements to be realised, therefore we have designed the building with as much flexibility as possible. The new drama studio will open up to the new foyer so that it can be used as one large space during performances. The foyer links into the dining room so that catering can be provided as required.

The design team includes a specialist theatre consultant and it became clear that the traditional proscenium arch design coupled with the support spaces required was difficult to fit on the proposed site. A theatre in the round takes up less space as well as providing the intimacy of performance which is not achievable in a traditional theatre design. The entrance is set in the preferred location and provides the foyer linked with the drama studio and dining room beyond.