UNICORN THEATRE

Done by: Daniel Arriaga Fuentes.


Totally new theatres in Britain are rare, and good ones rarer still. As for good examples for children, two have come along at once: the Egg theatre in Bath by Haworth Tompkins, inserted into a historic building, and this all-new one by architect Keith Williams. It is more ambitious, the accomplishment of the dream of a national theatre for children, as envisaged by Unicorn's founder Caryl Jenner back in 1960. She had already been on the road since 1947, having started out back then touring productions in a second-hand Bedford civil defence truck. Later the company settled in London's Arts Theatre, only to be kicked out after several years when the place was sold. Having abandoned plans to build for themselves in the mid 1970s, the idea was revived in the National Lottery era.
So this was a matter both of re-imagining theatre from the ground up, and of seeing it through the eyes of children. Not the easiest of architectural challenges: but Williams, who won the competition for the building, has managed it. To report that it does not feel remotely kiddified is high praise: Williams has ingeniously made a place that does not play down to any particular age group. It is sophisticated in an entirely grown-up way.
The Unicorn Theatre is a modernist tower house or enchanted castle, with the copper-clad auditorium perched up in the air and a thoroughly dramatic glass-clad foyer rising dizzyingly high, backed by a stack of concrete and glass balconies looking right down Tooley Street towards London Bridge. This is a building that (courtesy of engineers Arup) quietly deploys structural gymnastics to achieve Williams' architectural effects. Using horizontal cantilevers rather than vertical columns, everything seems to hover. There are no columns to get in the way of anything, in the foyer or the auditorium.


The foyer, a grand L-shaped affair, gives you the sense of arriving somewhere glamorous. The walnut stairs and their balconies provide an intriguing interlude as you spiral up and up. And the main 340-seat Weston auditorium is as intense a space as any conventional layout can be. The elliptical seating in the stalls is overlaid by a circle level that is indeed geometrically circular. The auditorium is excellent acoustically and visually.
Some architects emerge onto the scene with claps of thunder, puffs of smoke and carefully contrived manifesto positions. Others acknowledge that architecture is a hard thing to engage with and that it takes time to develop an authoritative voice. Williams is of the latter school. Quietly, competition win by competition win, he is building up a portfolio of increasingly assured high-modern buildings, each an exercise in the art of tectonics. Williams set up in practice on his own only in 2001 and has an increasingly international workload. Like Caruso St. John, he is considerably more than just another New Modern, as the composition of the Unicorn demonstrates.
The Unicorn is the UK’s flagship theatre for young people. Unicorn theatre is located on the south bank of the Thames, close to Tower Bridge and a short walk from London Bridge station.
As well as creating their own productions, the unicorn theatre host visits by some of the UK and World’s other great theatre companies for young people. Since opening in December 2005, their international guests have come from Sweden, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, South Africa and Japan.
the unicorn theatre stage over 620 performances a year as well as a wide range of special events, workshops and other theatre activities. It also have an extensive Education programme, which works with visiting schools and local young people.

How to get here
By Underground:
London Bridge : Northern (Bank branch) and Jubilee Lines. Lifts available. Use the Duke Street Hill exit at London Bridge , and follow the signs to Unicorn Theatre. Distance: approximately 700 metres. Tower Hill: Circle & District and DLR (Tower Gateway). Cross the Tower bridge and follow the signs to Unicorn Theatre. Tower Hill station does not have lifts, but Tower Gateway does. Distance: approximately 1,300 metres.
By Bus:
47, RV1 (low floor, wheelchair accessible), 381. Buses to London Bridge: 17, 21, 35, 40, 43, 48, 133, 141, 149, 343, 521, 705. Buses to Tower Hill: 15, 42, 78 (low floor, wheelchair accessible).
By Car:
Tooley Street is a red route and there is no parking available at the theatre itself. the nearest car park is the NCP at the junction of Snowsfields and Kipling Street nearby (approximately 600 metres). For disabled badge holders, there are limited parking bays on Tooley Street, for up to 3 hours between 10am and 4pm, or there are four bays for disabled badge holders at the NCP Snowsfields. Patrons can be dropped off outside the theatre.
By Coach:
Groups can be dropped off outside Southwark Crown Court,on English Grounds just off Battlebridge Road. To reach the theatre from the Court, follow the signs to Unicorn Theatre. No waiting - coaches can only pick up and drop off here.
By Train:
London Bridge is the nearest railway station.


http://www.unicorntheatre.com/about_us
http://www.hughpearman.com/articles5/unicorn.html
http://www.unicorntheatre.com/visiting_us/getting_here