New renovations to Brighton Dome completed

Brighton Dome new renovations are completed. We spoke to the Chief Executive of the Brighton Dome to find out more.

Transcript

00:00 This has been a really long project, a partnership project between ourselves, Brighton Hope City Council

00:07 and a whole range of funders and our architects, Field and Clegg Bradley Studios.

00:11 And we started construction in 2017, so it's now in 2023, almost seven years later,

00:19 that we finally realised this building.

00:21 But it's an amazing project to have completed,

00:25 and we think an enormous benefit to not just us as an organisation,

00:30 but to the whole city and the wider region.

00:33 What we can do for artists and audiences here, I think, is really exciting

00:37 and I can't wait to keep seeing audiences visit.

00:41 Every time they do visit, they really have an intake of breath as soon as they come into this space,

00:46 and it's really exciting to watch.

00:47 It's been really vital to incorporate accessibility to all of these spaces.

00:52 They are heritage spaces after all, they were built in 1804 and soon after.

00:57 So they weren't built with accessibility in mind,

01:01 and then they've been converted into theatre spaces,

01:04 and again, that wasn't a key consideration when first thought about.

01:09 So now to have fully accessible spaces, both front of house and crucially back of house, is vital.

01:18 And it means that the range of artists and the most open offer that we can make to audiences

01:25 is now able to be met, and we're really seeing the fruits of that since opening.

01:32 We first started thinking about this project in 2010,

01:35 and the Arts Council England came on board with the first major capital grant in 2012.

01:41 So it has been a real labour of love for all of us involved over the last decade.

01:47 And slightly more.

01:50 And I think the results are really worthwhile,

01:53 and I just thank everybody who has stuck with us across this period,

01:58 because it really is now reaping the rewards.