Key Theatre

Peterborough’s Key Theatre was built in 1973, and it showed, with tinted glass and a cramped entrance. Spacelab’s job was to put it back on the map with a dramatic reconfiguration that would once-again make it a welcoming building, and a cultural landmark. This involved rebuilding the front of the theatre, and extending it, with a new restaurant and bar inside, and a new entrance, lift and stairs to enable a smoother circulation of people.

Being a cultural venue, it was also important that the building had a sense of spectacle, so we wrapped it in a two-storey glazed façade. As well as letting those inside look out – offering views of the River Nene – it also lets those outside look in, so at night, the building becomes its own kind of theatre.

Walthamstow Stadium

Spacelab have revealed alternative plans for the redevelopment of Walthamstow Dog Stadium which would see dog racing make a return to the iconic stadium.

The plans include the refurbishment of the stadiums main stand and track, whilst retaining the listed dog kennels and front façade. The stand to the south of the site will be demolished to make way for 140 residential units. The idea of housing around a dog track is not new and has been done before to much success at a number of recently refurbished dog tracks.

 Spacelab have been working on the scheme with Save Our Stow (SOS) for the last two years in a bid to return dog racing to its spiritual home and have recently presented the scheme to The Mayor Boris Johnson who has since called for the return of Dog Racing to the stadium. The scheme also has the support of local MPs Ian Duncan Smith and Stella Creasy. 

COS, Regents Street

COS commissioned a window installation with Spacelab as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2010 in conjunction with the RIBA.

 The collaboration experiments with depth, scale, perspective and methods of visual communication - all factors contributing to the interconnected disciplines of architecture, design and fashion. The concept is based on a dynamic and continually changing architectural performance created by low-tech cogs belts and motors to rotate cardboard boxes. The resulting alternating patterns in the windows will stimulate the connections between architecture, fashion and the public- revealing the store, the brand and people on both sides of the glass.

TBC

RIBA Hides Project

For Architecture Week in 2007, Spacelab was invited to design and build a hide (a place where people can watch wildlife without being noticed) in Battersea Park, London, which was open to the public for a week. We took inspiration from dazzle camouflage – used to conceal battle ships during the first and second world war – and cut out squares at different heights, so adults and children could observe the surroundings together. At the back of the structure, we provided space for visitors to reflect on the experience, with a blackboard wall and chalk so they could draw what they had observed. At the end of the week, the hide was donated to the local community.

Goodwood Racecourse

Spacelab were approached by the Goodwood Estate to conduct a feasibility study into the Goodwood Racecourse and its facilities.

The study included a masterplan for re-organising the access and facilities on the ground floor and recommending new access points and wayfinding signage as an essential part of the scheme.

The proposal also creates a new stand accommodating a VIP bar and restaurant and additional Private Boxes which connect two of the existing stands. Spacelab were also responsible for designing new fit outs for the Private Boxes and associated bars and restaurants in the existing stands.