Helm plans in for Prescot Playhouse
A planning application has been submitted for the construction of a £19m Jacobean theatre in Prescot, designed by Helm Architecture, which has been under discussion for the past nine years.
The 350-seat 30,000 sq ft theatre is to be built to designs by Inigo Jones from 1629. According to the Trust, the proposed site in Prescot town centre was the location of the first indoor Elizabethan theatre outside London built in the late 1500s.
Helm Architecture with Austin-Smith:Lord advised the Trust on plans for the Prescot playhouse.
The scheme will include teaching space alongside the indoor theatre for up to 100 students.
The project was first proposed by the Shakespeare North Trust in 2007, but stalled after a failed bid for National Lottery funding.
The project is being spearheaded by academics at Liverpool John Moores University and the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance.
It is understood that the Trust intends to prepare another application for Lottery funding.
Ahh Prescot. Once a proud Lancashire town. Now a scar on the rotting ankle of Knowsley.
By Lilt
“The 350-seat 30,000 sq ft theatre is to be built to designs by Inigo Jones from 1629”
This design doesn’t look very 17th Century!
By syntax
1 ) Austin Smith Lord may be involved but it is not yet confirmed!
2) The project is not spearheaded by J. Moores Uni – they are stakeholders though – but SNT (Shakespeare North Trust) – the chair is Peter Scott. SNT have worked closely with KMBC to create this inspiriational concept.
The theatre interior is 17th Century in design – the exterior is a contemporary design.
By Dr Nicholas Helm