Backstage at The Old Vic | Haworth Tompkins

Backstage at the Old Vic   – Architectural statement 

The Old Vic is one of London’s most important historic theatres, a Grade II* listed building that has been a centre for performance, education and community engagement for over two centuries. Since its opening in 1816, it has evolved through many roles; music hall, opera house, education institution and the first home of the National Theatre Company. Today, it operates as an independent, registered charity with a clear social purpose to make great theatre accessible to everyone. 

Haworth Tompkins were appointed to design and deliver a new build extension to this iconic Grade 2* listed theatre which would demonstrate the Old Vic’s commitment to its local community, house their outreach programme and include expansion of the theatre’s working spaces.

Through detailed workshops and ongoing dialogue with the Old Vic team, we developed a shared understanding of what this project needed to achieve. These conversations shaped a building that reflects the theatre’s working culture: creative, inclusive, adaptable and generous in spirit.

The result is a building that is colourful and convivial; a space that can host the Old Vic’s extraordinary outreach programme and where you feel at home at any time of the day. It is conceived as a place for creativity, learning and for the community to come together with the new extension supporting every part of the theatre’s life - from writing and rehearsal, to education, outreach and performance.

Sustainability sits at the heart of the building’s ethos. By prioritising the use of recycled materials, a low embodied carbon structure and passive energy systems with a forward-looking building, built to be an exemplar in accessibility

Location & Spaces 

Backstage sits on the Waterloo Road side of the existing theatre, occupying a prominent and previously underused corner of the site. 

The new building includes a triple-height café and bar on the ground and first floor levels, creating a strong street presence along Waterloo Road with a projecting balcony that frames the new public entrance. This provides a ”public living room” for local residents, for creatives to meet and make work, increases the hospitality offering for the theatre pre and post show and also houses the Old Vic Theatre’s free-to-access play script library. 

The upper floors include a new Clore Learning Centre and the conversion of the rehearsal room into a flexible studio space, which will provide the Old Vic with the necessary facilities for increased and more diverse artistic output, community outreach, education, and hospitality events, all of which were previously conducted outside of the building, or precluded by space constraints. 

The top floor includes a flexible event space and dedicated roof terrace, a place to host meetings or community gatherings, with views across London and planted areas that contribute to urban biodiversity. 

The construction of the new building connected to the existing gave opportunities to improve the functionality of the Old Vic’s existing back-of-house.  New spaces within the Backstage building include a new green room which triples the size of the existing provision, a private meeting room, offices and an additional writer’s room for creatives. The existing back of house has also been remodelled to enable a fully accessible stage door, upgraded dressing rooms, staff offices, toilets, showers and cycle provision.

Exemplary Approach to Sustainability 

The design applies a fabric-first approach, prioritising intelligent reuse of existing structures and inclusion of recycled materials, innovative passive strategies and carefully considering both embodied and operational carbon in all design decisions. 

Existing walls are retained wherever possible and salvaged and recycled materials maximised, from the use of theatre programmes as recycled content for tables tops to facade cladding. The retained Grade II* brick wall forms a thread between old and new, reinforcing the sense of continuity between the historic theatre and its new addition.

The primary structure is a European spruce glulam timber frame with solid timber floors. The frame has been designed for disassembly and future reuse. Natural ventilation strategies reduce reliance on mechanical systems, using stack effect through solar chimneys to manage heat and airflow.

The façade extends the sustainable and regenerative approach to the building’s outward-facing elevation, with an emphasis on the reuse of reclaimed materials. Locally-sourced theatre barn door lights, donated from redundant stock from London theatres, have been repurposed to create a colourful and playful brise soleil, held off the main façade in front of fixed curtain wall glazing.

Operational energy is further reduced through efficient lighting, an air source heat pump system and careful control of water usage. Together, these measures create a building that performs well environmentally while maintaining comfort and usability for its occupants.

Exemplary Approach to Accessibility

Historically, the Old Vic’s back-of-house was not accessible to wheelchair users or those with limited mobility. Through the Backstage project, this has been fundamentally transformed. The design introduces step-free routes throughout, accessible dressing rooms and showers, wide circulation spaces and a dedicated Space for Change facility. For the first time in the theatre’s 200-year history, performers, staff and visitors can move freely and equally throughout the building.

Backstage is the result of collaboration between architect, client and community, a project shaped as much by dialogue as by design. It demonstrates how a historic cultural institution can grow responsibly, embedding contemporary needs within a listed context without compromise to heritage or performance.

The building supports every aspect of the Old Vic’s work: it houses the learning centre, provides spaces for writing and rehearsal and extends hospitality to the community beyond the auditorium. It connects the theatre more closely to its neighbourhood and ensures that creativity and accessibility are visible and tangible in its architecture.

More than an extension, Backstage is a statement of the Old Vic’s future. It shows how a historic theatre can continue to evolve, environmentally, socially and artistically, while staying true to its founding principle that great theatre belongs to everyone. 

Lucy Picardo, Director – Haworth Tompkins

Architectural Fact Sheet

Address: 131 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8UR         

Appointed: November 2019

Start on Site: Back of House July 2022 – Backstage October 2023

Planning Approval: May 2022

Completion: August 2025

Areas:

NIA 1,250 sqm

GEA 1,785 sqm 

Construction cost: £13.7m

Architecture Team

Haworth Tompkins: Lucy Picardo | Hannah Constantine | Andreia Guilherme | Chester Kendall | Alexia Soteriou | Marcus Harding | Eleanor Moselle | Gabrielle Wellon | Harry Tate | Steve Tompkins | Will Priest

Design Team

Architects: Haworth Tompkins

Client: The Old Vic

Contractor: RISE Contracts

Project Manager: Equals Project Management (Backstage) | Bristow Consulting  (Back of House works)

Cost Consultant: Aecom

Theatre / Acoustic Consultants: Charcoalblue

Façade Consultant: Eckersley O’Callaghan

Lighting Designer: BDP Lighting 

Access Consultants: Vin Goodwin

M&E Engineers: Skelly & Couch

Structural Engineer: Momentum

Fire Consultants: The Fire Surgery

Principal Designer: PFB

Photography: Philip Vile
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