The International Architecture Awards 2014

Haworth Tompkins announces the completion of The Shed, a temporary venue for the National Theatre on London's South Bank. The Shed will give the NT a third auditorium while the Cottesloe is closed for a year during the NT Future redevelopment, also designed by Haworth Tompkins.

The artistic programme for The Shed, recently announced by the Director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, pushes creative boundaries, giving the NT the opportunity to explore new ways of making theatre. In the same way, The Shed has been a test bed for experiment by the architectural design team. Conceived by Haworth Tompkins and regular collaborators Charcoalblue, it was then designed and built in little more than a year, a collaborative process between the building designers, the National Theatre, and theatre-makers who will work in the space, in a way that more closely resembled a theatre show than a conventional construction project. Its temporary nature, building on Haworth Tompkins' earlier temporary projects like the Almeida Theatre at Gainsborough Studios and King’s Cross, permits a structure that can be seen less as a building than as an event or arts installation - a vibrant intervention on London's South Bank that will entrance, and sometimes bewilder, passers-by for a period of twelve months.

The Shed occupies Theatre Square, at the front of the National Theatre, beside the river. Its simple form houses a 225-seat auditorium made of raw steel and plywood, while the rough sawn timber cladding refers to the National Theatre's iconic board-marked concrete, and the modelling of the auditorium and its corner towers complement the bold geometries of the NT itself. A temporary foyer has been carved out from the space beneath the NT's external terraces and provides easy connection to the existing foyers. The Shed's brilliant red colour covering the entire mass of a form without doors or windows, announces its arrival boldly against the concrete bulk of the NT, giving it a startling and enigmatic presence.

The Shed also represents another step in Haworth Tompkins’ ongoing project to research sustainable ways of making theatres. Built of materials that can be 100% recycled and fitted out with re-used seating, The Shed is naturally ventilated, with the four towers that draw air through the building providing its distinctive form.

Director Steve Tompkins said:
“This collaboration has been a wonderful opportunity to explore the ways in which temporary public buildings can alter our perceptions of places and organisations. We hope The Shed will be seen as a playful but thoughtful building, both challenging and complementary to the permanent cultural architecture of the South Bank.”

Andy Hayles, Managing Partner of Charcoalblue said:
“Haworth Tompkins are quite extraordinary designers. They understand the needs of theatre users, encourage and elicit team-wide innovation, and manage to create buildings that theatre people love to use and audiences love to visit. We are honoured to have jointly conceived The NT Shed with Steve and his team, and look forward to sharing the feedback from the National as they use the building to further inform our future collaborations.”





Design Team

Architect: Haworth Tompkins
Steve Tompkins, Paddy Dillon, Shane McCamley

Client: National Theatre
Theatre Consultant: Charcoalblue LLP
Structural Engineer: Flint & Neill Ltd
Services Engineer: Ingleton Wood LLP
Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner & Theobald LLP
Acoustic Consultant: Arup Acoustics
Access Consultant: All Clear Designs Ltd
Fire consultant: LWF
Contractor: Rise Contracts Ltd


Auditorium Dimensions: 14.8m x 18.3m x 8.7m (h) (16.4m high including chimneys)
Gross Internal Area: 628m2
Seating: Thrust Grnd = 146 (or 134+6 disabled)
Thrust 1st = 71
Thrust total = 217 (or 205+6 disabled) seats
In-the-round Grnd = 175 (or 164+6 disabled)
In-the-round 1st = 101
In-the-round total = 277 (or 265+6 disabled) seats