The Dovecote Studio forms part of the
internationally renowned music campus at Snape Maltings, founded by Benjamin
Britten in derelict industrial buildings on the Suffolk coast. Britten was
inspired by the almost abstract landscape of the reedbeds at the boundary
between the land and the sea: the ruins of a nineteenth century dovecot sit
directly on this boundary, looking out across the marshes.
The Dovecote Studio inhabits the ruins
and expresses the internal volume of the Victorian structure as a Cor-ten steel
‘lining’, a monocoque welded structure that was built next to the ruin and
craned in when complete. The building is fully welded in a single piece, like
the hull of a ship, to achieve weather tightness, and then fitted with a simple
plywood inner lining.
A large north light roof window
provides even light for artists, while a small mezzanine platform with a
writing desk incorporates a fully opening glazed corner window that gives long
views over the marshes towards the sea.
The single volume will be used by artists in residence (it can operate
as a simple bedsitting room with a compact kitchen), by musicians as rehearsal
or performance space (there is a large opening door to an adjoining courtyard),
by staff for meetings or as a temporary exhibition space.
Only the minimum necessary brickwork repairs were
carried out to stabilise the existing ruin prior to the new structure being
inserted. Decaying existing windows were left alone and vegetation growing over
the dovecote was protected to allow it to continue a natural process of ageing
and decay. Prior to the Cor-ten structure being inserted, a new drainage
channel was cast to falls at base level to ensure that water running down
between the old and the new structures is channelled to accessible drainage
points at the door thresholds.
The Cor-ten structure itself is fabricated from full
size 1200 x 2400mm sheets with regular staggered welded joints, into which door
and window openings are cut in locations dictated by internal layout. The
framed wall and roof panels were pre-fabricated off site. These were then
welded together in a compound next to the ruin, and the finished Cor-ten shell
was craned into place in the course of one day.
The interior walls and ceiling of the space are
insulated, sealed with a high-performance vapour control layer, and lined with
spruce plywood to create a timber ‘box’ within the Cor-ten shell. Laminated
plywood sheets also form the stairs, balustrade and mezzanine structure.