UK architectural studio Bennetts Associates has designed BEAM, a creative arts and culture venue nestled in the center of Hertford, a historic town in south-eastern England. The original venue, the former Hertford Theater (built in 1977), was extensively renovated and transformed into the new cultural hub. The building’s distinctive form is shaped by five undulating volumes that wrap around the existing “malthouse” fly tower — this angular zinc-clad structure references a nearby medieval castle (the fly tower allows for the storage and movement of stage equipment).
London-based Citizens Design Bureau won an invited competition to design the interiors of BEAM.
The project is the result of a recognition by the local authority (East Herts District Council) that culture plays a pivotal role in community prosperity and well-being. The previous Hertford Theater’s single auditorium has been transformed into a multi-purpose space that incorporates the old theater’s shell, stage, and backstage areas. The design increases the capacity of the main theater from a flat-floored 400-seat hall into a 547-seat auditorium with shallow-raked stalls (inclined at a gentle slope), a balcony, and a fully accessible technical grid.
The transformation by Bennetts Associates also adds three cinema screens, a 151-seat studio theater (opening in 2025), and cafe/bar areas within a series of brick-clad volumes. These volumes enclose a covered triangular courtyard which serves as the foyer.
Located alongside the River Lea in Hertford, BEAM is part of a wider urban strategy to open up the riverside to the public. The building’s placement on a compact plot presented a significant challenge for both the architect and contractor GPF Lewis. To remedy this, Bennetts Associates designed a series of individual volumes with a scale suited to the site’s constraints. “Angled facades hug the site boundary, while pitched roofs allow each element to be read individually,” says the studio. As a result, the building’s true scale is never actually apparent (unless viewed from above).
Bennetts Associates selected a locally produced brick for the facade cladding; the color complements the brick found on nearby historic buildings. A pattern of textured and glazed bricks enlivens those blank areas of the facade that enclose the cinemas and performance spaces. On the ground floor, full-height windows provide views into the public areas.
Bennetts Associates collaborated with Citizens Design Bureau on the interior design of BEAM. “Citizens Design Bureau envisaged the front of house areas as a series of volumes defined by layers of color, with the bright green of trees visible through large foyer windows providing an integral part of the palette,” explains the architect.
“The intimacy of each room is enhanced by a design approach that explicitly considers a multisensory experience,” says Citizens Design Bureau. The internal courtyard atrium, with its concrete floor and exposed brickwork, introduces a transitional space with reverberant acoustics. By contrast, seated areas are designed with an arrangement of smart sound-absorbing and concertina-style felt soffits — for Citizens Design Bureau, these soffits “calibrate a delicate balance between convivial ‘buzz’ and distracting, overwhelming noise.” The use of soft, warm surfaces also adds to the feeling of coziness in these spaces.
While the shell of the main auditorium has been retained, the space was remodeled in every other way: “A new roof was required after the installation of new technical lighting bridges necessitated significant additional steel construction, serving containment, and ductwork,” explains Citizens Design Bureau.
The auditorium’s walls and servicing routes are lined with dark faceted timber; its air supply ducts, materials, and colors are a nod to the theater’s 1970s origins.
The building’s design aimed to reduce embodied carbon and the project was submitted to a whole building carbon assessment during the design stage.
The construction and transformation of the new BEAM venue reused elements of the original Hertford Theater, including refurbished equipment, original steel trusses, and the orchestra pit lift frame.
The building’s superstructure makes extensive use of mass timber — prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels form the main walls and pitched roofs of the cinemas and second theater space.
Gas boilers and connections were removed from the original building, making way for an electric heating system.
Upfront Carbon (A1-A5): 562 kgCO₂e/m²
Sequestered Carbon: -165 kgCO₂e/m²
A full upfront carbon breakdown for the project is available here.
Project consultants:
Main Contractor - GPF Lewis
Structural Engineers - Integral Engineering Design
Services Engineer - Max Fordham
Theater and Acoustics Consultants - Charcoalblue International Limited (Stage 4 onwards)
Whole building carbon assessment — Cundall
