Concert Hall and Jerwood Innovation Centre, Oakham School, Rutland

In January 2001 Avery Associates won an architectural competition to design a new Innovation Centre located on a sensitive site at Oakham School, near Rutland water.

The Innovation Centre was intended to create closer links between the school and industry through a purpose built facility for sponsored lectures, seminars, exhibitions and group working. At its heart was the Jerwood sphere, a large flexible space capable of seating 500 people, linked to breakout spaces and a foyer.

The Innovation Centre project was subsequently superseded by a commission to build a new 400-seat public concert hall on a similarly demanding site adjacent to a grade II listed building in the centre of Oakham (see left). The Concert Hall has been bedded into the school's existing music department but will also have a significant public presence within the town.

The plan has been developed from the twin influences of 'sacred spaces' such as San Stefano Rotunda and Santa Constanza in Rome, and 'performance spaces' such as the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre and the Globe.

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