Groundbreaking Royal Opera House

Nicholas Hare Architects attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Royal Opera House's new Royal Opera House Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre at High House Production Park last Friday.

The Centre will be built next to the award-winning Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop - also designed by us - where all ROH's sets and scenery are made - on the 14-acre site in Thurrock. The Costume Centre is a partnership between the Royal Opera House, South Essex College and Thurrock Borough Council with support from the East of England European Regional Development Programme and the Foyle Foundation.

It will house all the costumes for opera and ballet productions currently in the repertory, which will enable the stock to be managed more efficiently, as well as reducing road mileage, transport costs and carbon footprint. The site will also house costumes obsolete productions so that designers may reuse or refashion costumes. The costumes will be kept in carefully controlled conditions to ensure they are properly conserved.

The building itself will be of the highest environmental standards and is set to achieve BREEAM Excellent status.

Pictured: Alex Beard (CEO, ROH), James Taylor (our project leader), Interserve representatives, Guy Channer from Arup and Andrea Stark (CEO of High House Production Park) alongside other board members