UK follow Levitt Bernstein has accomplished its refurbishment of the Grade II listed Bristol Beacon, creating new interiors for the “giant and spectacular” historic live performance venue.
The brand new premises mark the second and remaining section of the undertaking, which started in 2009 with the creation of a brand new lobby constructing for the venue, containing cafes, bars and improved entry to the venues.
Levitt Bernstein was tasked with an in depth program which included refurbishing the prevailing music rooms and backstage areas, reworking underutilized cellar areas to create a club-style venue and inserting a brand new restaurant.
All of this was to be achieved whereas preserving and restoring the historic, heritage character of the constructing, which dates again to 1867 and is understood for its Bristol Byzantine type – a type of Byzantine Revival structure standard in Bristol.
“A lot of the very best cloth and unique character was left behind within the subsequent alterations and we had been in a position to protect it and precisely uncover or reinstall it from the proof on the website the place it had been misplaced,” stated affiliate director Mark Lewis for Dezeen.
Downstairs, the previous field workplace house has been changed by a brand new restaurant and bar, overlooking town, behind a newly glazed 'storefront', created by eradicating earlier additions to revive the venue's Colston Road frontage.
This results in the Lantern Atrium, a brand new centerpiece for the constructing organized round a metal and glass staircase that gives clearer orientation by way of the constructing.
“After they had been first constructed, the general public areas had been very giant and spectacular, however these had been diluted over time by later structural and ornamental adjustments,” Lewis advised Dezeen.
“This a part of the constructing has been dramatically opened up and flooded with pure gentle, permitting views from the road, by way of the restaurant and up into the Lantern Bar and Atrium,” he added.
Within the Bristol Beacon's largest venue, Beacon Corridor, Levitt Bernstein launched a brand new timber-lined inside into the prevailing masonry partitions, with balconies formed to optimize acoustics and detachable seating for flexibility.
Together with the Lantern Atrium, the smaller Lantern Corridor has been up to date to be used for concert events and extra intimate occasions.
Within the cellars, below the brick arches, house has been made for a collection of music training areas and an intimate venue for 100-250 folks that may double as a rehearsal or break-out house.
The brand new areas characteristic a variety of commissioned artworks that reference the constructing's historical past, together with ceramic tile murals by artist Giles Spherical within the lobby and an ash wooden sculpture within the basement by artist Frankie Boyle.
Levitt Bernstein is a London and Manchester panorama and structure follow based in 1968.
The studio's earlier initiatives embrace a perforated steel clad science facility in France designed in collaboration with TKMT Architects and an aluminum clad power heart for the College of Liverpool.
Picture by Tim Crocker.