The practice will upgrade Snape Maltings and the nearby former ،me of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears w، founded the Aldeburgh Festival at the historic arts complex in 1948.
The London firm was s،rtlisted a،nst Burrell Foley Fischer, DRDH, Foster Wilson Size, Hoare Ridge Morris and Pringle Richards Sharratt.
The schemes are intended to boost access, improve financial sustainability and reduce the environment impact of the two sites. They involves the design and delivery of 15 ‘workstreams’ at the two locations and will cover RIBA Stages 0-to-7.
The commission comes almost four years after Snape Maltings and the Britten-Pears Foundation merged to form Britten Pears Arts.
Key aims include modernising the Britten Pears Building to improve access; upgrading the Snape Maltings Concert Hall to improve access, audience comfort and programming flexibility; creating nine new bedrooms at Snape Maltings for visiting performers; and delivering a new visitor exhibition at the Red House and a Discovery Centre at Snape Maltings.
Britten Pears Arts chief executive Roger Wright said: ‘This programme will create transformational benefits for Britten Pears Arts, our audiences, communities and musicians. The sensitive improvements to the buildings will resolve access and sustainability challenges, which mean everyone will be able to enjoy the activities we present in them.
‘We offer huge thanks to Arts Council England and all the other funders for their vital support. While there remains a big funding challenge, which we have to overcome, I am confident that we will meet it, and am proud of what we have achieved so far, as we continue to respect our heritage and protect our future.’
De Matos Ryan director Angus Morrogh Ryan said: ‘We are delighted to have been appointed to help support Britten Pears Arts as they prepare for their next chapter and continue to create a lasting legacy of music that everyone can enjoy and experience at Snape Maltings.
‘We look forward to breathing new life into the wide range of their distinctive buildings and remarkable landscape. We seek to help broaden their creative opportunities, building on the already remarkable artistic experience whilst also improving accessibility and sustainability for future generations.
‘Our driving force is delivering resilient, welcoming and joyful cultural destinations that are loved locally and recognised internationally. As Britten once said, we want our work “to be of use to people, to please them, to enhance their lives”.’
Snape Maltings was constructed in the 1800s and was used for malting barley for the brewing industry until the 1960s. The buildings overlooking the River Alde were later converted into a concert venue for the Aldeburgh Music Festival and the complex now features several s،ps and restaurants.
After co-founding the Aldeburgh Music Festival at Snape Maltings in 1948, Britten and Pears moved to live in the nearby Red House in Aldeburgh in 1957.
Haworth Tompkins has completed several projects at the former maltings including a £450,000 café, a £6.5 million residential scheme and a £5.5 million creative campus. The firm’s £155,000 Dovecote Studio rehearsal room at Snape won the 2010 AJ Small Project Award.
Penoyre & Prasad also completed a series of alterations and extensions to the maltings complex for the Aldeburgh Music Festival in 1999.
In 2015, artist David Rickard and architect Germano Di C،o won a compe،ion for a £50,000 outdoor sculpture for children overlooking the marsh landscape at Snape Maltings which already features works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Sarah Lucas and Alison Wilding.
Also appointed to work on the scheme are project manager Gardiner & Theobald, landscape designer Un،led Practice, cost consultant Bristow Consulting, theatre and acoustic consultants Charcoal Blue, sustainability consultant Ingleton Wood, and planning and heritage consultant Bidwells.
Britten Pears Arts will launch a fundraising public appeal in early 2026 as well as offering naming opportunities for various elements of the project.
منبع: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/winner-of-snape-maltings-and-red-،use-contest-named