More than a building

The RAD’s new home, as imagined by T-SA Architects, is a continuation of the city, with rooms and spaces connected by a network of indoor streets and urban plazas. Dance is all about connection; with music, with a partner, with yourself or with an audience – this is reflected in in the interior to encourage dancers, students, teachers, staff and visitors to connect in the space.

Our new headquarters include:

• seven full-size dance studios with sprung floors and high specification sound equipment (with two studios capable of being divided into two smaller, soundproofed spaces),
• a studio theatre (seating 193) with full lighting rig and sound desk to be used for both RAD and community partner performances,
• a library and publicly accessible archive that houses and displays many original costume and dance artefacts, as well as the RAD’s large heritage collection of notated ballets,
• a space to host guest lectures and speakers, creating a new facility for the dance research and dance education community,
• meeting spaces available for use by community partners,
• a new shop and large café for members, visitors and the community to enjoy, and
• a large welcoming reception space that will be used to host exhibitions and pop-up events by local and national artists, schools, youth and community groups.