• Architecture
  • Arts

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

About:

This Grade II listed assembly hall has been sensitively restored and dramatically extended in a striking new building.The original hall and new facilities are separated by a top-lit four storey linear atrium foyer, traversed by slender bridges which connect the balcony levels with the new bars, toilets, stairs and lifts.

Terracotta cladding was selected to respond to the new building’s brick neighbours and reflect Stoke’s pottery-making tradition. Backstage facilities have also been enlarged and improved, imaginatively incorporating the adjoining sessional court’s cell block within the backstage accommodation.

The scheme was one of fifteen chosen for the joint CABE/English Heritage publication ‘Building in Context’ to represent the best examples of designing in historic areas.

Project Details:

A sensitive but striking restoration of a historic assembly hall.

Client: City of Stoke-on-Trent

Construction Value: £8m

Completion: 1998

Location: Stoke-on-Trent

Awards:

  • Civic Trust Awards 2000: Finalist
  • AJ/Bovis Royal Academy Awards 1997: Winner

Image: Dennis Gilbert