Blandford Square - Grassroots Art Quarter
This project focuses on the newest theatre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Alphabetti Theatre. The company opened to offer the city a fringe venue to support grassroots artists in the North East, an important group of people within a society. One instance of this is their movement into a derelict area, due to the low costs, but how they help to develop the area for the better and make it more desirable. However, this tends to kickstart the phenomena gentrification, bringing developers into the area to cause knock on negative effects to the original community.
This project's thesis is to support bottom-to-top development, creating the fictional group 'Blandford Square Conservation Group', taking inspiration by the likes of the People's Republic of Stokes Croft in Bristol. Formed by local residents, artists etc, they work with the local council to ensure the avoidance of top-down development and understand what it is the community and its' society needs. Focusing on Alphabetti Theatre, creating a sustainable incremental design scheme and allows to be flexible to suit how the future may change things.
The project began as a self-directed walking tour throughout Newcastle-upon-Tyne, that discovered the city's theatres through chronological order.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s only theatre to support fringe artists and their work.
Alphabetti Theatre was moved into their current home in 2017 by Ali Pritchard. The theatre's aim is to create, produce, and programme new, original work from emerging artists across the performing arts ensuring the development of the ecology of the performing arts in the region. Supported by grants from the Arts Council and other charitable organisations, their now home in Blandford Square houses a 75 flexible seater / 150 standing performance space, bar, bookshop, rehearsal space, prop / costume workshop and artist studios.
'The Life of Ali' - From prototyping to the stop motion piece which explores the typical daily routine of Alphabetti's founder Ali Pritchard and an understanding to the important spaces of the theatre and their functions.
Site plan of existing Blandford Square
Retaining the existing structural shell that Alphabetti currently resides in, the scheme includes internal adaptions and a new outdoor, timber theatre in the derelict piece of land attached to the North of the building. The new outdoor theatre aims to become a statement piece that Alphabetti resides there, with a flexible timber screen which opens and closes, providing advertising for the programme.
The interior of the existing building has an uplift with the addition of a vibrant and colourful staircase, which everyone is greeted. The three floors are split almost into different categories which are baed from 'The Life of Ali' short film.
Proposed plans
Visual of proposed outdoor theatre
Above: Technical sketch and drawing of new timber outdoor theatre
Below: Axonometric of proposed changes to the theatre's interior and exterior
