James Parker reviews the inspired remake of BAFTA’s headquarters in London’s West End, directed by Benedetti Architects and featuring bigger roles for original period features and some startling glazing innovation

The story of how an architect and a national cultural institution went on a journey of discovery together to uncover and reuse historic elements in its London head office could probably be made into a film. However, while it had dramatic moments, Benedetti Architects’ ingenious scheme to literally raise the roof of BAFTA’s base and provide another floor of key space for the charity as it celebrates its 75th year, was generally a smoothly realised, feel-good tale.

When it staged a design competition in 2014, BAFTA wasn’t sure how to remain at 195 Piccadilly, despite it being its ideal location in the heart of London’s West End. The listed Victorian building’s size, layout and antiquated services were increasingly incapable of performing the functions required now and in future. BAFTA knew it would need to be fully reimagined by a design practice armed with a strong vision.

At the heart of BAFTA’s work are its charitable activities, including increasing diversity and inclusion in the film, television and gaming industries, and fund-raising is a top priority, from film screenings to social events, having no government subsidy. The 1883 building (formerly the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours) is the centre of this activity, and also the base where its members meet.

Purpose-designed in 1883 with the top half of the building as continuous, triple-height gallery spaces lit by three huge rooflights, the building’s internal volumes attracted BAFTA to move in (in 1976), because it could include a raked cinema– the 227 seat Princess Anne Theatre – for major screenings and premieres.

Benedetti worked closely with client and building owner The Crown Estate, as well as Historic England, as well as local stakeholders Westminster City Council and St James’s Church. The architects helped BAFTA to establish the feasibility, as well as the benefits of remaining in its current home. A key design constraint was a desire to retain but completely revamp the already hi-spec two-storey cinema, leaving it insitu beneath two previously blocked-off Victorian rooflights.

The architects took a “bold yet sensitive” approach to the architectural heritage, as they simultaneously looked to integrate a wide range of the latest AV technology across the building. They had to “carefully balance members’ needs with public access and revenue generation,” says practice founder Renato Benedetti.

The key design intervention, included in the winning competition entry, was to create a new top (fourth) level for members; a complex task encompassing raising and restoring two of the building’s three original Victorian rooflight spaces.

This meant uncovering and restoring decorative plasterwork and structure that had been hidden for 45 years, and which was generally assumed to have been lost.

Brief

With several major heritage refurbishments in London under their belt, it was a “no brainer” for the practice to enter the competition. Inspired by their vision, BAFTA decided to invest in futureproofing the building. “They had already assessed a bunch of other relocation options, but the membership felt 195 Piccadilly was their home,” Benedetti says.

The architects iteratively developed the brief with BAFTA over the next two years, which Benedetti says was a delicate and complex process, because the architects were attempting to establish the financial as well as practical scope of the project as they developed the brief: “We were on a journey together.” Growing in confidence, the client opted to eschew a phasing approach, and instead go for ‘one-hit.’

Design goals

Achieving the right level of environmental quality for charitable events as well as members was critical, but also creating new spaces which could be flexible for a varying pattern of day and night events. The design’s aim was to preserve but enhance the historic building’s character, which had come to embody BAFTA, and achieving the client’s mantra of “BAFTA-ness” for the new interiors.

“Part of the building’s texture,” Benedetti explains, “is that the spaces can adapt to multiple uses.” But while keen to ensure flexibility, the architects wanted to avoid any sense of temporary, bland spaces, particularly with materials; “we always shied away from anything generic or ‘fashionable.’” The architects were attempting to produce a timeless set of interiors, with “a classic palette of materials, and a highly refined set of details.” BAFTA was founded in the 1940s, but the architects reached back to the 20s and 30s for inspiration, as “the heyday of British film,” when people would visit luxurious cinemas to be “transported to another world.”

Construction

The scheme received consent in 2017, together with enabling works including a substation beneath Piccadilly – providing the extra electric capacity needed by the enhanced facilities and reduced gas use in the kitchens. Designing this alongside the main refurbishment was “highly complicated,” says Benedetti, and not phasing the project meant staff had to be relocated during construction. A former Jamie Oliver restaurant in the basement became the construction workers’ canteen.

The blocked-off rooflights were “packed full of stuff,” and their plasterwork was deteriorating rapidly, says Benedetti, with no atmospheric or temperature control. The structural challenge for remedying this via lifting the rooflights was complicated by the Crown Estate doing simultaneous work in the basement: “We needed to find a way to hold the building up and make all the changes; adding a floor and strengthening it all without putting significantly more weight on the foundations.”

There was a “huge amount of temporary works.” A ‘birdcage’ of steels around 20 metres high held the facade and the 20 tonne historic rooflights, and also created a temporary scaffolding roof above – one of the largest in London at the time – which also enabled all materials to be lifted in on such a constrained site.

Programme

The architects managed to double the building’s internal capacity without moving the main screening theatre –  which was re-built and technologically re-engineered in collaboration with Dolby’s Californian HQ.

Other than a new invitingly glazed entrance, the accommodation begins on the first floor, with a foyer, multi-use event space and banqueting kitchen (the building as whole includes four new kitchens and bars). Then on the second floor, adjacent to the main cinema, are the Learning and New Talent spaces crucial to BAFTA’s charitable remit, which extend upwards at the west flank into a triple height space top lit by another rooflight, and which connects visually to the third floor. The second floor had previously been raised and was lowered around 1.5 metres here to avoid level changes, which “gave back some of the history about the relationship with the triple height galleries which attracted BAFTA in the first place,” says Benedetti. The raised floors were on “huge 20 metre beams,” so this wasn’t done “without consternation,” he adds.

On level two a new Clore Learning Centre (funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation, its first in the UK dedicated to moving image arts) replaces the former member’s area, supporting the training of a diverse range of ‘young creatives’ in the film, games and television industries. On level three there’s a new, 41-seat cinema, and on the top floor alongside the members’ bar, a new boardroom re-uses historic oak flooring and marble found during the removal of the original raked seating in the Princess Anne Theatre. The building is set back with terraces which overlook Piccadilly and St. James’s Church – which is surrounded by mature trees and accessed via 24 metres of full-height glazed sliding doors.

A further reason for offering flexibility in the design of the various meeting areas was that BAFTA does a lot of its award judging in the building, so there’s a need for “privacy and containment.” All spaces are connected so that jury members can call each other wherever they are in the world, and view films together seamlessly.

“You don’t see the kit,” says Benedetti. “We were working with world-renowned firms in partnering agreements with BAFTA to ensure it is cutting edge now, and updated in future.”

Clearly in control

As mentioned previously, this project was a test bed in UK terms for a highly innovative smart glazing system from Eyrise, a company formed by pharmaceutical giant Merck in Germany to plug a gap in the market for truly ‘clear’ solar control glass. The company had patented a glass liquid crystal technology in 1914, but it’s taken over 100 years for it to come to market.

This is ‘smarter than smart’ insulated glass – passing an electric current through it ‘combs’ particles within the liquid crystal so that to the human eye, the glass appears virtually clear from the interior. On a sunny day, the glass appears nearly black from the outside, while 80% of harmful light such as UV rays are removed. It was the ideal solution for the new rooflight glazing, because temperature needed to be carefully controlled in the toplit members’ spaces, but at the same time darkened interiors would defeat the object of the painstaking historic plasterwork restoration.

From the project’s outset, the architects were convinced smart glass would provide the answer, says Benedetti. “We wanted it clear so you could see the trees in St James’s Church courtyard. The trees are about five stories higher than the building, and we wanted people to be able to experience the lovely green canopy above them.”

He continues: “The glass was literally being developed as we were designing the project.” Benedetti and project architect Carla Sorrentino visited the company’s HQ in Darmstadt to find out whether it was too good to be true: “It was a very bright day; the glass looked clear, they opened a window and you could hardly tell the difference.”

Helpfully, the building contractors Knight Harwood were already aware of Eyrise. The architects acted as ‘broker’ in the partnership agreement between BAFTA and Merck to foster trust in what was a groundbreaking first UK installation. The glass sits in a self-supporting, low profile structural frame beneath the historic structure, and appears completely untinted.

Overall, thanks to the combined glazing and upgraded services, what was a 154 kg/m² carbon footprint has been reduced to 42 kg/m² – saving almost 200 tonnes per year, the building went from an EPC rating of G to B.

Interior finishes

The interiors are subtle but richly coloured and elegant – consisting of a “pared-down, warm palette of classic, sustainably-sourced materials,” says Benedetti. The architects’ chosen palette includes travertine, terrazzo and European oak floors; in a variety of textures, plus brass inserts and other detailing, and walls painted in golds and greens. The level of refinement generally increases as users move up the floors, and the architects also designed the boardroom table and chairs. A subtle example of the drama and sense of increased excitement brought in the interior design is the gold speckle in the terrazzo flooring, which increases as you ascend the oak and travertine-lined stair/lift core.

There are bars on every floor, but as the second floor bar was a space where kids’ events would be held, the team “effectively wanted a wall which could open.” This led to the idea of creating a screen, “but we thought we should do something unusual – and particularly sustainable,” says Benedetti. The result is a 4.5 metre x 2.5 metre undulating black screen, sitting next to a striking steel balustrade with the BAFTA ‘face’ cut into it. Prompted by a friend, he discovered a new material, Wearpure.tech, developed by Barcelona firm Noumena to “particalise carbon and nitrous oxides out of the air.” The 3D printed form resembles a curtain, with a maximised surface area that corresponds to ‘a young tree’ in terms of its carbon reducing performance.

Classic travertine is used in large wall slabs as well as in fluted tiles around the lifts. The oak slatted panelling on levels two and three have black backing doing the acoustic job, but on the member’s top level, the oak chevron sections are more refined, with an acoustic backing of brass mesh, which also seamlessly incorporates the air handling,

Grand finale

This was a project which actually benefitted from Covid; deliveries to site were far easier, and BAFTA didn’t lose custom to hotels during construction due to lack of demand. Renato Benedetti says the long-term outcome however food the client is a feeling that the building’s unique historic character has been “lovingly enhanced, and imaginatively transformed.”

The dramatically improved interiors proudly welcome both members and visitors, including to what architect Renato Benedetti confidently says is “by definition the best cinema in the country,” showcasing the latest Dolby audio-visual technology. The real showstoppers are the restored and repositioned rooflights, whose ornate original plasterwork enhances what are joyful, daylit spaces on the new members’ floor.

As for Benedetti’s next big role? They have been appointed for the refurbishment of RIBA’s Portland Street headquarters – that might see the challenges of this scheme somewhat upstaged.