Registered office: 41 Hopewell Square, London, E14 0SY A shimmering apparition clad in insulated U-glass section, it is surrounded by the austere, blocky towers of the City Island, a new, citadel-like residential development located in a tight bend of the semi-tidal Bow Creek between Poplar and Canary Wharf. Carlyle Building, Hortensia Road, SW10 0QS The Com… 41 Hopewell Square, The beams are encased by a floating, isolated concrete floor. Tower Hamlets The space can also be hired out, as indeed can the main performance studio when the ballet is out on tour – for everything from a Cameron Mackintosh production rehearsal to a Porsche advert. Holloway Charitable Trust Our sincere thanks are with the following people and organisations for their support. For best results, it is recommended that you repeat this class 1-3 times a week for 4-6 weeks until you have mastered the positions before moving on to the second level class. It provides a strong new face to a cultural organisation’s work, while giving useful urban definition to its difficult site; w combining its pragmatism with just a touch of poetry. Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund Designed and built by Cog. These also contain one rectangle of clear glazing: ‘We did not want them to be sealed boxes … we wanted the dancers to have views out,’ says Mulligan. The limited material palette and the use of off-the-shelf, hardworking components helped ensure the building met its budget. This is then topped with a specialist sprung timber floor to provide acoustic separation between the studios. Glenn Howells Architects has wrapped the home for the English National Ballet in panels of white translucent glass, offering passers-by glimpses into its rehearsal spaces. Certainly the D1 elements offer the opportunity to bring a richness to the area, though inevitably, to make it all stack up it’s the market-sale residential that dominates, with towers and lower-rise slabs, crowding the perimeter of the island – described by the developer in a positive spin as a ‘micro-Manhattan’. This new 8,600m2 building has enabled not only a massive expansion of its facilities but also its co-location with the separately run English National Ballet School for the first time. The building has been designed to match the ambition and potential of the company. In a time of reduced public funds for the arts, the building provides ENB with a financial springboard by enabling spaces to be rented out while the main company is on tour. A sandwich of translucent glass-fibre insulation delivers not just a thermal envelope but a sense of enclosure and a soft milky light. There was limited budget and it was important that the fair-faced concrete was used only in the appropriate locations. All the finishes, black painted concrete walls and plywood floors, are designed to be simple and robust ‘Not too fussy; kick around’ as Mulligan puts it. Location. Each has a specialist sprung floor, warm blond oak timber acoustic panels, one mirrored wall and soft natural lighting coming from another formed of the Linit panels. The new home for the English National Ballet, located on London City Island, is designed by Glenn Howells Architects. We have been working in collaboration with Glenn Howells Architects (GHA) since 2014 on the relocation of our headquarters from South Kensington to our new purpose-built building in Canning Town. In fact it is anything but; its footprint wrapping irregularly around a multistorey carpark. The English National Ballet School, from which a third of the ENB’s current dancers graduated, is located in a similarly cramped, and listed, building in Fulham, about a mile to the south. After ENB chose to build its new HQ in London City Island, the main challenge was providing the extensive range of flexible, state-of-the-art facilities on a narrow site and with a challenging budget. It was very much a collaborative design process and it was not about making an impressive HQ, but a working home where we could create, rehearse and share alongside creative partners and other hirers of the facilities. ★★★★☆ With the second lockdown having led to the cancellation of English National Ballet’s Sadler’s Wells season in November, ... filmed in its new building in east London. We have created something that is pared-back and elegant, but also hard working, with its character defined by a celebration of exposed raw materials such as concrete ceilings and translucent glass walls. Arts Council England Glenn Howells Architects also created the overall masterplan for the new development, succeeding a previous version by SOM. By Kate Lough. It has designed a building that works hard and well for all English National Ballet’s various specialist users. Mulligan explains that concrete had to be used for the floors and structure to mitigate any reverberation of the eight adjacent dance spaces. The remainder of the London City Island development is constructed fully off-site and there was a desire by EcoWorld Ballymore to deliver some of the ENB building this way. English National Ballet’s new HQ is more than just a building, the company delivers so many incredible programmes that reach out into the community and strive to ensure that dance is truly inclusive. English National Ballet School Professional Trainee Programme 2020/2021 . Its façade is composed of a large white-framed grid of anodised steel, with occasional panels of clear glazing punctuating opaque U-channelled glass panels of Linit – fast becoming one of the materials-of-the-moment. Complete September 2019. Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, accepted the award on behalf of English National Ballet and Glenn Howells Architects on Thursday 17 September. The term ‘A Bauhaus for Dance’, which appears on Glenn Howells Architects’ website to herald its recently completed English National Ballet (ENB) building, sounds a touch hubristic. The heavy concrete frame is wrapped in a light skin of low-iron u-channel glass with the elevational treatment configured to respond to its immediate context. As a result, the other major site is due to be the new home of the London Film School, designed by Nicholas Hare Architects, and currently under construction. Intelligently, rather than pepper-potting the D1 space, it was concentrated primarily on two larger sites: aimed at attracting institutions rather than just smaller arts organisations to the Island. The new building significantly expands their current accommodation by … English National Ballet in class © Ian Gavan. In choosing English National Ballet, the judges said three key aspects made the £36 million project stand out from the impressive shortlist. Charity, no. The north façade is clad with insulated translucent glass, maximising the amount of natural light that filters into the studios to create ethereal dance spaces. Scroll for more. Photography Hufton + Crow. Banagher Precast Concrete was selected to supply the precast components of the frame. London Marathon Charitable Trust The Wigoder Family Foundation Fifty precast double tee beams were installed across the scheme, weighing over 30 tonnes per section and meticulously placed on to the in-situ concrete frame. Justin Bickle The double-stacked rows of 15m x 15m studios are designed as no-nonsense, clean, practical dance spaces. With English National Ballet marking its 70th anniversary in 2020, the organisation now occupies their new iconic building at Ballymore’s newly developed London City Island, a mixed-use district in Canning Town, east London, on a peninsula between the River Lea and the Thames. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain. Zachary Lewy The Linbury Trust It builds on the ballet company’s long history of innovation, ever since it was founded as the London Festival Ballet in 1950 (it was renamed in 1984), with a remit to take ballet out to new audiences by touring nationally. We then carried out detailed structural analysis of the advised floor systems and were able to work out the correct structural natural frequency required for ballet dancing. The programme – who is it for? We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Credit: Photography by Hufton + Crow, The headquarters building provides a cultural anchor for the London City Island docklands redevelopment, says Rob Wilson. Garfield Weston Foundation In October 2020, the English National Ballet was named Building of the Year 2020 by the Architects’ Journal. The spans were achieved by using precast double tee beams (normally used in bridge engineering) which enabled the structure to cope with the natural frequency generated by 60 ballet dancers performing in unison. Company status Active Company type Private company limited by guarantee without share capital Incorporated on 18 November 1988. You can use WP menu builder to build menus, Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our, Dance moves: Glenn Howells’ new home for English National Ballet, Office-to-nursery conversion completed by Harp & Harp, Buckley Gray Yeoman creates gallery hub in Grade II-listed London terrace, First images of Chipperfield’s revamp of Mies’s Neue Nationalgalerie revealed, Manalo & White designs pared-back mixed-use scheme in Hackney, Previously refused roof extension consented under new permitted development rules, Cambridge pulls ‘work for free’ tender following Twitter backlash. Ahead of you is an expressed scissor-stair in oiled steel, designed to be animated by its users – a Bauhaus touch à la Oskar Schlemmer. ‘It’s essentially like a space undergoing constant refurb,’ he adds, referring to the regular testing and install and de-install of sets. Our resulting new home gives us the space and facilities we need to continue to develop and care for world-class artists and create innovative new work, which evolves ballet as an art form for future generations. English National Ballet with Hollow by Stina Quagebeur. The result is an incredibly lean and efficient building which allows us to grow and thrive long into the future. London, E14 0SY, 020 7581 1245 Why we gave AJ100 Building of the Year to English National Ballet. This façade retains the translucent glass skin for a consistent external appearance and is enhanced with insulated composite panels which increase thermal performance and provide fire and acoustic protection. Image: English National Ballet's home on London City Island © Michael Molloy. The façade is then punctuated with large-span steel frame windows, which offer expansive views out and glimpses in for residents and visitors. All rights reserved. More information on how to do this can be found in the cookie policy. As a touring ballet company ENB was able to advise which performance spaces were the best for dancers’ performance and which were less than satisfactory. 02 At present, their headquarters are located in Markova House, a small building in South Kensington named after a famous English ballerina and located close to the Royal Albert Hall. ENB is a lean and efficient building with natural ventilation in all non-performance spaces, north-facing glazing and an efficient thermal mass. Overall this building has a nice robust straightforwardness to it, with its intelligent hierarchy of spaces meaning it can function both as an urban public building on a square and a working building. We started with a very clear, but complex and ambitious brief, testing our first ideas by visiting a range of other dance buildings. Visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to learn more. But it’s all 50 per cent GGBS with a thermal mass that assists in keeping running costs low – the building is plugged into the local district heating system. Martin McGrath, deputy group managing director, OCSC. Architect says honour for 3D printing NHS face masks was ‘surreal surprise’, Take 2: Alison Brooks submits revised plans for tile-clad Hampstead house, David Chipperfield posts loss for second year in a row, Lockdown 3: Architects react to the latest Covid restrictions. London mayor Sadiq Khan officially opened the English National Ballet’s new home in Canning Town, east London, last week. The Foyle Foundation Building Ballet Strength 1h 10m Natalie Krapf leads this course with Chloe Keneally, Artist with English National Ballet, demonstrating. The extent of fair-faced concrete was determined in conjunction with the design team, client and specialist contractors. This received planning in a deal with the local council, Tower Hamlets, which required it to provide D1 space for community or school use (of which the ENB forms the largest chunk). The agreement also saw Ballymore pay for the construction of the bridge, which makes this a viable urban neighbourhood by linking it to Canning Town station, which serves both the Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee Lines. Home; English National Ballet School Limited; English National Ballet School Limited. Chanel Breakthrough dance company HUMANHOOD 's dark side of the Moon-inspired ORBIS - complementary piece SPHERA features in the following live stream. While all ancillary spaces are naturally ventilated, the dances space use mechanical heating and ventilation to maintain relatively constant temperatures needed for the suppleness of dancers’ muscles. And at the new neighbourhood’s heart – the ‘pearl within an oyster’ as Mulligan terms it – is the ENB building. It leads up to a generous first-floor landing space, which together with the soaring walls of the entrance and stair, can be used for exhibitions. Clore Duffield Foundation The most expressed elements in the studios are their ceilings of exposed deep double tee beams which neatly accommodate the M&E runs. GHA has created something that is very simple and elegant but also full of character by celebrating raw materials such as the concrete ceilings and translucent glass walls. The Dorfman Foundation 214005. The phrase was coined by the ENB’s artistic director Tamara Rojo, although in reference more to the content than the container. Grenville Turner More for ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET SCHOOL LIMITED (02319478) Registered office address Carlyle Building, Hortensia Road, London, SW10 0QS . English National Ballet Registered in England and Wales. English National Ballet 41 Hopewell Square, London, E14 0SY 020 7581 1245 info@ballet.org.uk This one-year programme is designed for dancers aged 18 to 22 years who have successfully completed a full-time vocational ballet course. Natalie Krapf leads this course with ENBYouthCo member Grace Farbon demonstrating. And many other generous donors and supporters. The term ‘A Bauhaus for Dance’, which appears on Glenn Howells Architects’ website to herald its recently completed English National Ballet (ENB) building, sounds a touch hubristic. This was then used to generate specifications for the building’s structural system. The new building for the English National Ballet (ENB) is something of a revelation. With the budget tight, all the timber used in the project is sourced from surplus worktops, supplied at no cost by a company run by one of the dancers’ fathers. But on approach, crossing the Mark Whitby-designed bridge that connects London City Island to Canning Town tube, the corner of ENB’s pale, orthogonal form does provide a small echo of its Dessau predecessor, its name in big super-graphics on its pale façade. For best results, it is recommended that you repeat this class 1-5 times a week. The programme will run from October 2020 to June 2021. ENBYouthCo Summer Intensive 2019 © Thomas Stroppel. With the old state arts funding business model no longer available, this building is designed to help the ENB wash its own face. You demonstrated an excellent attitude and level of technical knowledge, whilst maintaining a professional and cooperative way of working. ‘Our turbine hall’ is how Rojo has described it, although beyond this main circulation space, the building is security protected. Not only is there plenty of space for development, creation of new commissions and rehearsals, the new building has rehab facilities, a music room for English National Ballet Philharmonic, and digital infrastructure which will allow both organisations to transmit their work to audiences around the UK and the rest of the world. A big challenge for the design team was the sheer scale of the building, which had to be adaptable and provide a wide range of rehearsal, teaching and support spaces. Meanwhile, the English National Ballet School is on the fourth floor, along with four of the dance studios, use of which it shares. Visually, these gridded panels suggest an orthogonally regular building. A transformational project for English National Ballet (ENB) which sees the rehearsal, ENB School, and administration functions move from west to east London and into London City Island. English National Ballet, picture by Hufton + Crow Earlier this month it was honoured for its work on the building which is home to the English National Ballet in London. It leads into a generous lobby-atrium-cum-café space, familiar from so many public buildings. Glenn Howells project director Dan Mulligan, who led on the overall development, describes SOM’s version as a ‘monoblock of residential’. To enable this, we selected double tee units and bridge beams which could provide the long spans and natural frequency requirements while using the offsite system build. It sits in the centre of a new primarily residential scheme developed jointly by EcoWorld International and Ballymore. Dance for Parkinson's class at English National Ballet's home © Photography by ASH, Stay connected with English National Ballet, Nutcracker Delights Arts Award Workshops For Schools, English National Ballet’s home is named AJ100 Building of the Year. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies. The production studio can also be used as an auditorium for ENB’s outreach programme with local schools and other stakeholders. “What I wanted for the Company was a space where we could create, where we could have freedom, and where we could share our ambition and we could connect with the local community”, Tamara said. The new dance factory with a total floor space of 8,640 square metres was designed by Glenn Howells Architects (GHA). In October 2020, the English National Ballet was named Building of the Year by Architects' Journal. The biggest challenge for the architects was to plan a flexible, modern venue for dance on a limited area with a clear budget. English National Ballet School. English National Ballet 41 Hopewell Square, London, E14 0SY 020 7581 1245 info@ballet.org.uk EcoWorld Ballymore It answers the brief to provide a working space – it is not a venue but rather a building that allows us to practise, plan and hone artistic productions. It has been known variously as the Gala Performance of Ballet, Festival Ballet, London Festival Ballet, before finally assuming its current moniker of the English National Ballet in 1989. UK London City Island, London. Designed by Glenn Howell Architects, it contains seven full-size studios alongside other learning facilities. The specification was defined in reference to specific examples from the contractor’s previously completed buildings. Its visible sandwich of translucent glass-fibre insulation not only delivers a good thermal envelope but provides the interior with a sense of enclosure and a soft milky light while giving the façade a pearlescent quality. URN: 51731. The main challenge was to develop a floor that would provide a good dynamic response to the dancers using the studio spaces and to develop an economic structure that could be efficiently constructed off-site if possible. 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