Located in Tooley Street near London Bridge and the river Thames, the Unicorn Theatre is part of the More London Development transforming this part of the Capital

Simon Hughes MP for North Southwark &  Bermondsey on the Grand Stair looking  down on the Foyer of the Unicorn Theatre		Philip Pullman on Unicorn’s Grand Stair

	300 - 340 seat main theatre - called the Weston Theatre in recognition of the Garfield Weston Foundation's support for the Unicorn
	100 - 120 seat studio theatre
	Rehearsal studio
	Foyer, box office, café, shop, wcs
	The Foyle Studio - Unicorn's main education studio funded by the Foyle Foundation
	Meeting room/second education studio
	Staff offices and associated facilities
	Dressing rooms
	Green room
	Theatre scene dock

Bill Nighy, Jane Asher and Edward Fox with Unicorn Young Consultants Cleo and Corvel at the launch of Unicorn's public appeal in November 2004.

In urban terms, the new Unicorn continues the varied scale of existing buildings along Tooley Street, with Foster and Partners' much larger glazed office buildings as its backdrop.

The new building is an asymmetric pavilion. Its elevations are open and transparent where they need to be, revealing the heart of the building to the public, yet elsewhere deliberately solid and cliff like, punctuated by carefully controlled window openings and toplight. This approach recognises a dynamic future as well as the architectural precedent of this part of London, the narrow streets and warehouses which once occupied the site, and nearby the great 19th century railway viaducts of London Bridge station.

Weston Theatre, Unicorn's 340 seat main auditorium - view across seated area  and stage

The foyer is formed by a glazed transparent front along both Tooley Street and the serendipitously named Unicorn Passage, the pedestrianised route to the River Thames. The foyer is multi-level and transparent, revealing both the Studio Theatre and the "Grand Stair", which leads to the "Theatre in the Sky" (the main auditorium called the Weston Theatre) which, clad in pre-oxidised copper panels, balances spectacularly above the Foyer and Unicorn Passage.

The materials are freely but precisely arranged reinforcing the building masses which coalesce to form abstract asymmetrical sculptural compositions for each elevation. The copper of the "Theatre in the Sky" contrasts with the blue glazed brick faïence which surrounds the stage door. Bright stucco, blue engineering brick and glass are used elsewhere.

CGI of the street level view, looking into the Unicorn Theatre from Tooley Street		Architect's model of new Unicorn Theatre: Theatre exterior - West elevation (from Unicorn Passage)

The larger architectural gestures of the spectacularly projecting main auditorium and the iconic corner tower with its eroded base, signal the new building at an urban level, yet the designs are rich in child scale detail. The stages, balconies, seating and in particular the form of the main auditorium itself derived from narrative story telling, all bring a delicate and appropriate scale to a unique new theatre for children!

Unicorn Young Consultants
During the design phase Keith Williams discussed his developing designs with a group of 30 pupils from Tower Bridge Primary School, who were part of a parallel education programme run by the Unicorn with the school. The process involved attempting to explain how theatres are designed and built, whilst considering specific aspects of the design such as seating with the children, who were encouraged to contribute their own ideas. The children were also consulted during the selection of the public art.

Unicorn Young Consultants at the launch of Architecture Week Launch 2004 held at the  Unicorn Theatre's construction site

About Keith Williams Architects
Keith Williams heads a multi-award winning architectural design practice based in Central London. Since forming the company in January 2001, he and his team have been working on an expanding portfolio of high profile arts and public projects across a wide variety of building types in Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Spain in addition to the UK.

The work of the practice has been published extensively, as recognition of the firm's fast growing international reputation for the creation of dramatic, innovative architecture

For further information on Keith Williams Architects, contact Keith Williams on 020 7841 5810 or email: studio@keithwilliamsarchitects.com