Arts Educational Schools

Arts Educational Schools is one of the UK’s most acclaimed performance training centres. The pioneering school has embarked on an ambitious plan to bring all its operations onto its main site in South West London.

Phase 1 works included the rationalisation of the site to incorporate new academic teaching facilities and rehearsal rooms for dance, drama and musical theatre. Works involved partial demolition of existing courtyard structures, including the studio theatre, which needed replacing. In Phase 2, a new drama studio complements the Andrew Lloyd Webber Theatre that currently manages end-stage presentations with a fly tower and orchestra pit. Works allow the studio to be a flexible space for up to 25 singer-dancers when not focused on drama presentations in traverse, thrust or in-the-round configurations.

The higher density of facilities and integration with the existing building has increased acoustic sensitivities, which our acousticians have carefully dealt with. Whilst transfer of noise and vibration – like the sound of tap dancing in teaching rooms – needs moderation, the aim is for the building to remain a vibrant hive of activity where presentations can be seen and heard in a controlled manner.