Building excellence in the cultural sector: Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse and Leeds City Council worked closely together to achieve the successful reconfiguration and extension of the theatre building which reopened in autumn 2019. The two organisations shared an ambition to physically connect the theatre more strongly with the city centre, within a longer-term city-wide ambition for culture within Leeds.

Project overview 

Leeds City Council were the project client, with the Playhouse engaged with the project day to day, and governance in the form of a project board. The Playhouse benefitted from the skills, expertise, time, strategic connection and cashflow management that the arrangement brought while still feeling ownership and agency within the decision-making process. Formal arrangements and continuity of personnel committed at the highest levels underpinned strong partnership working. The theatre was able to demonstrate its contribution to the city and citizens’ lives through a month-long reopening programme as well as a sell-out opening season in the new Bramall Rock Void theatre.

Facts and figures

Type of project: Reconfiguration and extension

Total capital cost:  £15.8 million

Funding: £5.6 million from Leeds City Council; £6.6 million from Arts Council England; £1 million from Bramall Foundation; £1.75 million from trusts and foundations and other fundraising; £0.8 million Playhouse contribution 

Project team: Leeds City Council (Client); Page/Park (Architect); BAM (Main contractor); Arup (Structural engineer); Max Fordham (Mechanical and engineering & Lighting consultant); Sandy Brown (Acoustic consultant); Rex Procter and Partners (Cost consultant); CDM Scotland (CDM co-ordinator); Charcoalblue (Theatre consultants); Turner & Townsend (Project management); New Stages Ltd (Playhouse end user consultant); NE3C Design & build (Procurement)

Project timetable

2016: Arts Council Stage 1 funding confirmed 

2017: planning permission received and Arts Council Stage 2 funding confirmed 

2018/19: Build time 

The capital works

The work involved: 

• the extension and reconfiguration of the entrance and foyer to face the city centre, with a highly visible external design 
• improvements to accessibility throughout including new passenger lifts, access to the auditoria and locations for wheelchair users 
• remodelling of existing auditoria with increased capacity, and the building of a new studio theatre – the Bramall Rock Void – built in unused space within the under-vaults beneath the Quarry seating bank 
• improvements to customer facilities, bar and catering and conferencing facilities  
• the relocation of the box office to the heart of the building and opening to a newly landscaped area named Playhouse Gardens 
• the replacement of outdated mechanical and electrical systems 

The local authority as client  

Leeds City Council has supported Leeds Playhouse (formerly West Yorkshire Playhouse) for many years, including as a provider of revenue funding largely given in support of the significant participation programme that the Playhouse offers. Feedback from Arts Council England, however, on an application for a different capital scheme, expressed concern that clear partnership commitment was not sufficiently evidenced. When the revised capital scheme was developed, the Playhouse team, including Robin Hawkes, the recently appointed Executive Director, decided a new approach was necessary. 

Robin explains, ‘The timing was good. Judith Blake moved from Deputy Leader to Leader of Leeds City Council. She has been a champion of the arts and retained culture within her portfolio alongside the economy, so her support was key.’ Robin also refers to other Leeds City Council staff in key roles with extensive experience of, and support for, the arts, describing the Council’s strong track record having delivered other recent capital projects such as Northern Ballet’s headquarters, the Opera North building and Leeds Arena. The Playhouse team were confident that the officers understood the demands of the project: ‘Naturally we had some initial concerns about handing the project delivery responsibility over – on paper, it could have led to someone [at the Council] taking decisions independently of us, but we felt their experience would be incredibly useful.’ 

Strategic alignment 

The city was strongly committed to putting culture at the heart of its plans to make Leeds nationally and internationally recognised as a ‘liveable city’. This was demonstrated when the Council decided to maintain the ambition and budget commitment to an alternative five-year programme of cultural activity known as Leeds 2023, in the wake of the European Union decision not to accept UK bids to be Capital of Culture.  

There were four key objectives for the project: 

1. Create a new face for the Playhouse (in the direction of the city centre) and a feeling of greater openness and permeability. This was important for the theatre in providing a better welcome and access and important to Leeds City Council in connecting to a cultural quarter and physically placing culture at the heart of the city’s narrative. 
2. Improving access within the building was equally important to both parties and sits within a larger concept of civic ownership of the theatre, a key part of the Playhouse’s approach and ambition. 
3. Building a new studio theatre to make use of unproductive spaces from the original design. This was desirable from an artistic development perspective – providing more opportunities for theatre practitioners – and a financial one (generating more income from existing space).  
4. Improving resilience – environmentally and economically by expanding seating capacity and other trading opportunities, installing better mechanical and engineering equipment and linking to the district heating network.  

There is a clear relationship between these goals and those of Leeds City Council’s wider strategy in terms of placing culture at the heart of the Leeds city offer, improving quality of life and broadening access to opportunity, and promoting economic growth and environmental sustainability. 

However, sustained alignment was not achieved by chance. Robin recounts, ‘We put in a lot of groundwork for our early conversations with the Council and for our application for funding to Arts Council England.  We paid attention to what their objectives were over the period of time (this was several years) and tried to test our decisions through the lens of what would be most impactful in terms of their goals. We also tested our decisions against the perspective of different departments, not just those working on arts and culture.’ 

Operational collaboration 

A project board was established to provide oversight, formed of Playhouse staff and trustees as well as local council representatives. There was a similarly integrated project team as well as support from various Council departments. The Project Execution Plan (PEP) was drafted collectively at the outset (based on previous, successful plans). The Playhouse liaised throughout the project with the Council across many departments as well as at the highest levels and Robin speaks warmly about the team and their relationships: ‘We worked together very closely. It was critical to have those positive relationships’. Since the project was subject to several internal decision-making processes, conscious effort was required to understand the intricacies of these as well as the roles of different individuals within these processes. Robin says, ‘We had to recognise the level of public scrutiny, publicity and exposure and work with this.’ Choosing the right architects reinforced the positive dynamics. ‘This felt easy to do with Page\Park architects – they have a very collaborative approach’ says Robin.  

One decision which Robin says felt big at the time was the Council’s insistence on a design and build contract, rather than a traditional architect led approach. He says, ‘This was new territory for Page\Park. In the end, we have been very pleased with BAM [the selected contractors], but for others starting out, I’d say it is worth making sure you understand all the implications of the structure before finally taking the decision.’ 

When it came to value-engineering decisions, the project board had the ultimate decision-making role, but the Playhouse team members felt they had appropriate say. Robin explains, ‘Yes, we had to lose a few things from the budget, but the Council let us make these decisions because they appreciated that we would have to live with them.’ 

Collaboration continues with the team after completion, with both parties collecting data and working on a joint evaluation matrix for the project. 

Design and programme choices 

The Playhouse made a number of decisions that clearly demonstrated its commitment to the city’s broader agenda for culture. ‘We showed a willingness to play into the bigger picture’ says Robin. Examples include: 

• a design for the building reconfiguration that factored in the site, context and contribution to the public realm – for example with shared landscaping connecting to the Leeds City College Campus 
• investing in the ceramic tiles of the new entrance that create strong visual impact and root the façade in the local tradition of ceramic 
• ensuring work on access met Council standards: ‘There were very detailed requirements from the Council about access, but this was a key project objective for us [the Playhouse] too. It was more a case of trying to align consultation with access user groups and approaching it in a joined-up way.’ 
• renaming the organisation – with West Yorkshire Playhouse becoming Leeds Playhouse to highlight the city location 
• a month-long reopening programme that coincided with a number of city events including the Council’s Light Night Leeds festival. ‘The way we went about reopening was clearly a way of engaging with the Council and with their objectives. Rather than just one high-profile evening, we had events across the month to reinforce the “Leeds Playhouse is Open” idea. Different events were targeted at particular communities, groups and stakeholders so they could feel as involved as impossible. We wanted to avoid an exclusive event for privileged and say to the public this building is yours’  
• environmental action – taking the opportunity to reduce impacts, for example through lighting. The Playhouse is also now one of the civic buildings linked into the District Heating Network. This is a city-wide project, which is providing low carbon heat and hot water, reusing heat which is already being produced at Leeds’s Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility. As well as reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 80 per cent, this should deliver reduced heating costs for the Playhouse

Resulting benefits 

The Playhouse team is thrilled with the results of the project, and has particular pride in the entire opening season in the new Bramall Rock Void selling out and being announced as the winner of The Stage’s 2020 Theatre Building of the Year Award.  

Although there were some initial concerns on the part of the Playhouse team members, they see the decision for Leeds City Council to be the project client to have conferred many advantages. Robin explains, ‘Now we are so glad. The advantages of not having sole responsibility were apparent. The work that the Council did was phenomenal. If we hadn’t operated in this way, I think the management and financial accounting burden, especially in day-to-day delivery, would have been tough, as well as managing the risks. And their role in terms of cashflow management was key – as soon as the project was greenlit, the full amount was available, which helped enormously.’  

The close relationship also meant that the Playhouse has stayed connected to the bigger context, for example, decisions in relation to the ongoing development of Quarry Hill, the location of the City College campus and the commissioning of a substantial piece of public art for Playhouse Gardens. The new landscaping now physically connects the spaces, reinforcing the relationships and increasing regular practical opportunities for collaboration. 

Robin concludes: ‘The relationship proved to be a success. I think we have come out with a stronger relationship than we started with.’ His advice is to pay attention and learn as much as possible about internal dynamics work and what order to approach people in. ‘You have to understand the subtle complexity of relationships between officers and councillors, their concerns and responsibilities and choose the right things to talk to people about at the right level’ he says.