Theatre to receive a £32m refurbishment

Tenders are being invited for the £32.4 million redevelopment of Birmingham Hippodrome by the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust. The venue is home to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and DanceXchange.

The project is being financed by a £20 million Lottery grant and the European Regional Development Fund. The redevelopment will be carried out in two stages to a very tight timescale.

The first stage has to be undertaken while the theatre remains in operation. It comprises the demolition of adjacent buildings and the construction of a new six-storey building - with basement - which will house dance studios, a 200-seat studio theatre, hospitality areas, dressing rooms and other spaces arranged around an atrium.

An existing dressing room block will be refurbished and a new basement entrance constructed at the rear to improve access to the stage.

The second stage will be carried out during a 10-month closure of the theatre. This stage involves the demolition of the existing front-of-house facilities and replacement with new ones featuring a structural glass front elevation and curved copper facade. The existing 1,800-seat Edwardian theatre auditorium will be refurbished.

Tenders should go out in November 1998 and work is due to start early in 1999 for completion by December 2000. The architect is Associated Architects and the quantity surveyor is EC Harris.