Chetwoods developed an initial Nicholas Hare Associates’ concept design into the new Bob & Tamar Manoukian production workshop for London’s Royal Opera House. The client’s aspirations were for a building of architectural merit with excellent environmental credentials, meaning that the project offered the unique opportunity to create a bespoke building for set construction and fabrication.

The completed building, rated BREEAM Excellent, features a ‘barrel vault’ frame constructed from a complex, but lightweight, triangulated truss covered in a green roof.

The envelope makes extensive use of sustainable timber cladding and internal heating is boosted through the use of ground source heat. The internal fit-out had to include the installation of specialist extract equipment, overhead gantry cranes and a scissor lift.

The building provides a strong presence and focus at the heart of the production campus while reflecting the nature of the work within accommodating a paint shop for vertical and horizontal scene-painting as well as carpentry and metal workshops.

The workshop won the RIBA East Spirit of Ingenuity Award for its “dedication to light and to the craft of making”. It also received a ‘Commendation’ at the 2013 Civic Trust Awards.