Salvaging an abandoned shell in London’s Docklands to create a new East London home for the internationally renowned music school.

Founded in 1822, the Royal Academy of Music is Britain’s oldest conservatoire, home to 775 undergraduate and postgraduate students. With no further opportunities to expand on its existing Marylebone campus it is redeveloping a vacant building on London City Island in Docklands to provide additional new teaching and rehearsal spaces.

The existing building was built in 2008, the first structure in developer Ballymore’s large-scale regeneration of the Leamouth Penisula. Sited on a hairpin meander of the River Lea, the three storey building looks north over Bow Creek and south over the River Thames. Designed for commercial use then adapted for a film school, the shell has an irregular plan and a composite construction including concrete structure and block infill with a glulam timber and steel roof.

The redeveloped building is conceived as a stacked village of studios that support new forms of collaboration and creativity. Diverse in scale and form, the family of distinct, acoustically tuned rooms provide the ideal conditions for practice and learning, integrating analogue and digital production. By broadening the range and character of spaces available to the Academy the project transforms possibilities for students and staff in every department with a particular focus on opera and musical theatre.

At the heart of the project on the cavernous top floor are two high quality, large studios. The studios’ dimensions replicate those of the Susie Sainsbury Theatre in the Academy’s Marylebone home, allowing performers to practice in a similar setting. Designed with box-in-box construction they are acoustically insulated, generous volumes to support loud rehearsal. High level windows provide natural light without distraction and oak floors and wall linings create a warm internal character. A digital infrastructure and nearby control room support academic recording.

The distinct form and materials of the existing building define a range of unique teaching and rehearsal spaces. Two additional studios transform found spaces to create distinct rehearsal spaces for music, acting, movement and dance. These are augmented with ten teaching and practice rooms, each designed for a grand piano and integrated recording facilities.

To support the Academy’s aim for students to connect, collaborate and create the design avoids restrictive corridors and instead creates a convivial commons.

On the top floor the negative space formed between the studios and existing building create a unique, tall concourse that enjoys diverse views out. On the first floor three halls with irregular plans connect teaching rooms. Stained timber benches and loose furniture allow students and staff to enjoy the communal spaces, together and apart.

The designs maximise the reuse of the existing building and prioritise the use of natural and biogenic materials. The studios achieve acoustic excellence with an innovative low carbon wall construction using clay and hemp blocks. The BREEAM ‘Excellent’ building is all electric, using air-source heat pumps to efficiently condition the space and photovoltaic panels to generate green electricity on site. Lime plaster, breathable paints and natural timber finishes create a healthy, sensory environment that actively supports well-being.

Invited competition. First Prize. Due 2027.