Queen’s Theatre Refurbishment

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Design and construction of complex structural alterations to a Grade II listed West End theatre. involving the removal of loadbearing vault walls and construction of new steelwork to support vault arches beneath the adjacent highway, and the creation of new stage level space by partially removing a primary loadbearing curved masonry wall from basement to second floor level. Operations above and below stage level comprised underpinning, encased and composite structural steelwork, Pynford stooling, reinforced concrete cantilever ribbed slab and composite diaphragm shear walls. This was all achieved without interruption to rehearsals and daily performances.
 

Judge's comment:

The Grade II listed West End theatre required additional space for its performers and producers, and with a highly constrained budget, the engineers delivered this to the client’s satisfaction. The theatre hosts the world’s longest running musical, and it was vital that the works did not impact daily rehearsals and performances. The judges admired the efforts that the engineers put in to both the permanent and temporary works design, so that within the very constrained space, sequencing using innovative techniques ensured the client’s expectations were exceeded. This couldn’t have been achieved without the close collaboration across the team. The show did indeed go on!