Somerset House, London

Programme: Shortlisted Competition Design
Date: January 2020
Area: 2,135 sqm (new build)
312 sqm (refurbishment)
1,460 sqm (external works)
Client: Somerset House Trust

Studio Seilern Architects were shortlisted in 2019 to take part in the international competition to design a new auditorium at Somerset House on the Strand in London. The brief asked for a new venue in the void between the West Wing and the New Wing of the Grade 1-listed 18th century building in Central London.

Our design included a performance space flooded with natural light washing in from perimeter skylights, allowing a continuous view of West and East Wing’s façades. Simultaneously, visitors on the public plaza above will be able to peer in, getting a glimpse of the work going on below. Lightwells are created by enclosing the lower-level accommodation in a glass box, reflecting the historical façades above, and allowing in natural light. The bridge negotiates different levels at the North and South Terraces, and twists and folds to become a guardrail, a stair up to a set of doors connecting the South and New Wings. Its presence is subtle and quiet, like an oversize stone sculpture that has been meticulously carved to neatly fit the site, creating a roof over the spaces below, and lightly touching its historical context at key connecting points. The sculptural structure folds up to form a subtle yet dramatic entrance into the foyer below. The auditorium is conceived as a box, a blank canvas, in which mechanically retractable balconies and seats can produce all configurations. The seating bleachers can be arranged to allow shoe-box, proscenium, traverse, thrust, arena, studio theatre, flat floor, or conference modes.