New building for the Royal Opera House

Planning permission has been granted by Thurrock Council for a new Costume Centre at High House Production Park in Purfleet, Essex for the Royal Opera House.

The design team, led by Nicholas Hare Architects, has been appointed to take the design forward, and construction work is due to start in May 2014. The building will provide dedicated storage for costumes from opera and ballet productions and will also house the historic collection.

New workshops will allow increased capacity for costume making and refurbishment to be brought in-house.Workshops on the first floor will be occupied by South Essex College for training students working closely with Royal Opera House staff to learn vocational skills and gain first hand experience.

The black timber clad building will front the central square at the Production Park and complement the existing Royal Opera House Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop, also designed by Nicholas Hare Architects and completed in 2010.

High House Production Park won Project of the Year and the Regeneration award at the 2011 RICS East of England awards and the Production Building won the RIBA East Spirit of Ingenuity Award for its 'dedication to light and to the craft of making' and received a Commendation at the Civic Trust Awards in 2013.