Bennetts Associates has transformed a 1970s theatre in Hertford, England, into BEAM, a multi-purpose arts and culture venue. The project grew out of East Hertfordshire District Council’s recognition that culture is an important contributor to the future prosperity and well-being of local people.
The former Hertford Theatre has been expanded and reworked to create a larger and more versatile venue, with the existing auditorium, stage, and backstage areas retained within the new design. Three cinemas, a studio theatre, dance spaces, and cafe/bar areas have been added in a series of brick-clad volumes, allowing the building to support simultaneous theatre, cinema, and community programming.
Working with the existing theatre
Working within the constraints of a tight riverside site bordered by the town and the River Lea, Bennetts Associates combined reuse with careful new construction. The shell of the former theatre remains part of the enlarged building, anchoring the new arrangement of performance, cinema, and public spaces. The completed venue has a gross internal area of 3,228 square metres, bringing together retained areas of the existing theatre with 861 square metres of new accommodation.
The main theatre was transformed from a 400-seat flat-floor room with a large retractable seating unit into a 550-seat auditorium with shallow-raked stalls, a balcony, and a fully accessible technical grid. This increased capacity while allowing the venue to retain important parts of the original building.
The auditorium has been completely remodelled, while retaining references to the mid-century character of the original theatre. Retro ventilation grilles remain part of the room, while the structure supporting the new technical galleries is subtly concealed behind a new layer of faceted, dark-stained panelling.
A collection of brick-clad forms
Placing a building of this scale on a constrained site in the centre of a historic town presented a challenge for Bennetts Associates and contractor GPF Lewis. Rather than expressing the venue as a single large volume, the architects broke the building down into a collection of individual forms, each scaled in response to its surroundings.
Angled facades follow the site boundary, while pitched roofs allow the separate elements to be read individually. The hexagonal plan of the former theatre and its zinc-clad flytower remain visible within the composition, giving the enlarged venue a recognisable point of reference.
The new facades are clad in locally produced brick, selected to sit tonally alongside the colour of historic buildings in the immediate context. Areas of blank facade enclosing the cinemas and performance spaces are enlivened with textured and glazed brick patterning, while full-height ground-floor windows provide views into the public spaces within.
A central foyer and sequence of rooms
The new volumes enclose a covered triangular courtyard, which forms the main foyer and brings the different parts of the building together. Bennetts Associates introduced Citizens Design Bureau to the project as interior designers, bringing further experience in theatre and arts buildings to the development of the venue.
Citizens Design Bureau designed the front-of-house areas as a series of distinct but interconnected rooms arranged around the central atrium. Rather than allowing the foyer to feel like one large open volume, the interiors use colour, material, lighting, and changes in scale to give each area its own character.
As BEAM operates as a multi-purpose venue, with theatre and cinema programming taking place at the same time, the foyers needed to be generous while still feeling comfortable. The sequence of rooms around the atrium helps balance openness with intimacy.
Colour, material, and landscape
The interior palette is shaped by simple materials, including wooden floors, exposed brick, painted plaster, and concrete. These are combined with coloured walls, ceilings, upholstery, and lighting to create a more intimate atmosphere within the public spaces, extending from the foyer and seating areas to the toilets.
The large foyer windows also make the surrounding landscape part of the interior experience. The bright green of existing trees and the riverbank forms a backdrop to the public areas, strengthening visual connections to the River Lea and back towards the town.
Internally, exposed brick and cross-laminated timber (CLT) are used alongside colour to create a direct and approachable material character. The exposed CLT brings warmth and lightness to the interior, while also forming part of the project’s material sustainability approach.
The use of robust, straightforward materials helped support the project budget, with colour and detailing used to give each space a stronger identity without relying on elaborate finishes.
Acoustics, scale, and atmosphere
The interior design also considers the acoustic and sensory qualities of the building. Concrete floors and exposed brickwork in the internal courtyard atrium create a more reverberant transitional space between outside and inside, helping it act as an orientation point within the building.
In contrast, the seating areas use concertina-formed felt soffits to absorb sound and temper the level of activity within the foyer. This helps create a balance between the activity of a public arts venue and the need for comfort within its social spaces.
The shift in atmosphere is also supported by changes in ceiling height and surface treatment. Moving from the double-height atrium into lower spaces with warmer, softer surfaces creates a more enclosed and settled experience.
