September 2010 – April 2015: LYRIC HAMMERSMITH, a £20m project to extend and refurbish the existing building. The extension houses a range of spaces to accommodate the theatre’s creative learning and partnership programme and includes dance, theatre, film and recording studios, a small cinema, a digital playspace and a sensory room as well as meeting spaces and new offices for the company. The refurbishment elements focused on making the building more energy efficient and sustainable, with a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating achieved. The exterior was reclad with insulated render, all glazing was replaced, a new heating system with gas-fired boilers was installed and the public areas were redecorated and recarpeted. This was a very challenging project to deliver (not least because it was built on top of a shopping centre with a landlord who was insistent on a great number of protective measures being put in place), but the outcome has been very well received by users and visitors.
My role was as Client Representative, working as the Lyric’s internal manager on the project and liaising with the design team, external project manager and contractor. In addition to managing the decant operations, I procured and managed a programme of fit-out works of over £1.6m in value, including catering refit, the installation of technical equipment in the various studios and the fixtures and fittings purchases, which was achieved in the eight weeks between handover and opening.
The Lyric remained in occupation of the building throughout the project, moving all staff into their Creative Space and keeping the ground floor café and first floor studio theatre in operation while the refurbishment works were carried out in the existing building. The works to join the steel frame of the extension to the back wall of the theatre were carried out in a short break in the summer of 2013.