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.