Alexandra Palace

Reinventing a Palace

Named for a Queen but dubbed the ‘People’s Palace’, this extraordinary Victorian Pleasure dome was a pioneer in immersive experiences long before anyone ever thought of the word.

The Las Vegas of 19th century London, Alexandra Palace was designed to create worlds within worlds, using every possible trick of light, sound, pyrotechnics and spatial immersion.

The project focused on reinventing the Palace for 21st century audiences by creating spaces for performance, display and community and has been a tremendous success — see this BBC Report

A newly immersive experience

While a partner at architects FCBStudios, I worked to bring the East Wing of this huge palace back into use as a newly immersive experience for the 21st century.

This end of the building had been neglected for decades, but still retained its powerful architectural voice, offering a breath-taking volume in what had been the Palm Court and Exhibition Hall.

A powerfully narrative space

Along with the Victorian Theatre this is a powerfully narrative space, its very fabric and volumes recount the stories of the spectacle of the Victorian era, as well as the excitement of the BBC’s first ever television broadcast.

At the heart of the wing is the East Court, cathedral-like in its lofty volumes and vast floor area, inspiring awe and great anticipation for the fun and games to be discovered throughout the Palace.

Celebrating the decay

Through the East Court lies the secretive and compelling Theatre, left for many years in a state of decay.

Celebrating that decay as a quintessential part of the narrative and of the experience, we focused on stabilising the built fabric and only introducing new elements where absolutely necessary.

Here the big architectural move was NOT to make a big architectural move - except for the critical one of flattening the raked floor to enable maximum flexibility of use.

No one thought London needed another theatre but who doesn’t love a theatre like this one? A wonderfully evocative space that embraces you in its centuries old stories, and at the same time providing a fantastic environment to enjoy a 21st century spectacle

The romance of decay

The Victorian theatre presented a classic Miss Havisham-like atmosphere, the romance of decay breathing through every peel of paint and faded woodwork.

It was clear from all the public and private comments that this early fabric was essential both to the historic narrative of the space and to its special atmosphere for events today.

Our approach was thus very soft touch, focusing where possible on arresting and consolidating fabric decay, rather than replacing with new.