Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Re-opens to the Public

Now boasting the biggest stage in London, the official re-opening of the Grade I listed building took place in June with the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Charles and Camilla.

The project itself saw the restoration of this historic theatre to its former glory, with new stage facilities, dressing rooms, bars and restaurants. The auditorium has also been transformed into a more comfortable and intimate space where producers now have the choice of a traditional proscenium arch or in-the-round configuration.

Due to previous success as part of the team that worked on the refurbishment and Open Up project works at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Rolton Group was appointed by long-standing client, Playfords Ltd to support the scheme, which is the largest programme of works recently undertaken at Theatre Royal and required the theatre to close for this first time in recent history.

Rolton Group provided survey work, laser scanning of the existing architecture, building fabric and services to create an existing 3D model for use in Revit MEP, full MEP technical design coordination services in 3D for the refurbishment, ensuring an efficient use of space for all building services within the confines of the existing structure as the project developed.

Working within an existing building of significant age posed a number of challenges when developing the mechanical and electrical services routing throughout. Using the detailed 3D coordination and even virtual reality, many tight spaces were concept proven prior to installation and disruption to the building fabric in this grade listed building, which required over 500 builder’s work penetrations.

Now complete, the theatre looks absolutely stunning and began welcoming guests in August, 2021 for the production of Disney’s Frozen.

©Philip Vile