The home of the touring theatre company for young people with complex disabilities, Oily Cart, is located within the Annexe of a Grade II-listed school in South London (Smallwood School) and recently underwent a refurbishment, with a large part of the existing building fabric retained.

Full design and acoustics for an exceptional new learning and events centre

A 1,550sqm building split over seven levels, designed as a flexible learning space. Natural daylight and ventilation, along with thermal mass ensure comfort while a closed-loop ground source system, partially powered by a PV array, provides efficient thermal management. Achieved BREEAM Excellent.

ORTUS is a new learning and events centre based in Camberwell, South London, adjacent to the world-renowned Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital and King's College London. Striking architectural features and sustainable technologies underpin this learning environment, which houses teaching and conference facilities, a community café and exhibition spaces.

Conceived as a free-standing pavilion, the building features multi-functional spaces arranged at half-level intervals and connected through a central atrium. Strategic window placement and floor level offsets, allow natural daylight to flood the interior while managing solar gain to prevent overheating. To enhance comfort and efficiency, the building employs both manual and automated natural ventilation systems. Additionally, the use of profiled soffit and exposed fair-faced concrete brickwork maximises the benefits of thermal mass, further stabilising indoor temperatures and reducing reliance on mechanical cooling. 

A sophisticated closed-loop ground source installation with seven 120-meter vertical loops efficiently provides thermal management for both heating and cooling needs. This system is partially powered by a roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) array, which contributes to the building's renewable energy supply. An integrated KNX system is employed to manage the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems along with lighting, ensuring precise control and optimisation of energy use throughout the building. 

Ortus achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent' and is EPC ‘A'-rated, ranking highest for sustainability among all National RIBA Award winners in the Architects Journal 2014. Beyond these credentials, the centre provides a flexible learning environment, promoting connectivity and community through thoughtful space planning and cutting-edge technologies, making it a truly holistic and forward-thinking space.

Awards

2013 – Brick Awards Best Education Building Winner
2013 – Brick Awards Supreme Winner
2013 – WAN Awards – Civic Buildings Shortlisted
2013 – WAN Awards – Effectiveness Shortlisted
2013 – ACA’s PPC Innovation in Partnering Awards Highly Commended
2014 – British Construction Industry Awards Building Project of the Year (up to £10M) Winner
2014 – British Construction Industry ‘Best Practice’ Award Shortlisted
2014 – British Construction Industry ‘Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award’ Shortlisted
2014 – RIBA National Award Winner
2014 – RIBA Stirling Prize Mid-listed
2014 – RIBA London Regional Award Winner
2014 – New London Awards - Best in Education Winner
2014 – Civic Trust Award Winner
2014 – Building Better Healthcare Awards – Grand Prix Design Winner
2014 – Building Better Healthcare Awards – Best Mental Healthcare Development

News

* Read  ORTUS nominated for EU prize *

A highly sustainable, professional‑grade performance A highly sustainable, professional‑grade performance and creative hub.

An EPC ‘A' rated cultural hub with a 400-seat auditorium, rehearsal, teaching, and support spaces. Key features include ground source heat pumps, a hybrid ventilation system, and a 13 KW PV array. Winner of the 2019 RIBA National and RIBA East Awards.

Set within the historic grounds of The Perse School in Cambridge, the new Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre (PAC) honours its namesake through artistic and environmental excellence. Conceived as a social heart for the campus, its triple-height galleried foyer serves as a café by day and a gathering space by night. The building includes a flexible 400-seat auditorium, daylight-filled studios, and full back-of-house facilities. Skelly & Couch delivered the full MEP design for the professional-grade theatre, ensuring exceptional comfort, energy efficiency, and performance. The project achieved an EPC ‘A' rating and won RIBA National and East awards.

A glazed façade brings abundant natural light into the foyer and interior spaces, establishing a visual connection with the courtyard ahead, while the auditorium also maintains a strong link to the outdoors through daylighting and views to the greenery behind.

Comfort and efficiency are further enhanced by a ground source heat pump that supplies efficient, year-round heating and cooling. Optimal air quality is maintained through automated windows and a mechanical ventilation system, partly powered by a 13kW rooftop PV array, cutting emissions and reducing reliance on the grid.

For over 80% of the year, the auditorium relies on silent, natural ventilation via under-seat plenums. Warm air rises and is exhausted through two large, attenuated chimneys, preserving acoustic isolation. Mechanical ventilation activates only during full-capacity performances.  This sophisticated sustainable design merges aesthetic appeal with practical performance to create an environment that is both comfortable and conducive to the arts.

At the heart of the school community, the Peter Hall PAC breathes life into theatre through its strategic embrace of sustainability—nurturing a space where future voices rise, explore, and shine.

Awards

2019 RIBA National Award Winner
2019 RIBA National Award Winner
2019 RIBA East Award Winner
2020 Cambridge Design & Construction Best New Building Award (over £2m) Commendation
2020 Cambridge Design & Contruction Craftsmanship Award Winner
2020 Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award Winner

An Exceptional Theatre Transformation for Multi-award-winning Production.

London’s Grade II-listed Playhouse Theatre was reconfigured from a proscenium-arch auditorium into a spectacular in-the-round venue, with additional rooms in the upper circle level. Completed in record time for the multi-award-winning Cabaret, it recreated the Kit Kat Club's intimate atmosphere, transporting audiences to 1930s Berlin.

The project involved securing listed building consent, obtaining planning approval, and reconfiguring the entire auditorium—all within 9 months. Navigating the existing services and live safety systems within the limited timeframe was challenging. Engineering judgement was crucial for discerning and prioritising key requirements, addressing critical issues, and ensuring successful project completion while meeting regulatory compliance.

Listed original ductwork, a rare feature, required detailed surveying to effectively reuse it. All other services were adapted or renewed and located in the basement.

In a theatre-in-the-round, the audience surrounds the stage, creating an immersive and dynamic experience. This configuration demands inventive staging for clear views from all seats, impacting infrastructure and service distribution. New raked seating led to changes in the lighting and validation of the existing ventilation and smoke ventilation systems.

LED lighting replaced halogen bulbs throughout. Ventilation and cooling in the basement dressing rooms and bar were upgraded to a new MVHR system with occupancy controls, replacing a continuously operational system. These interventions significantly reduced energy consumption.

A new entrance corridor, designed to evoke a night club atmosphere, required attention to health and safety, including concealing valves and pipework.

The transformation and exceptional turnaround at the Playhouse Theatre, stands as a testament to the team's dedication and spirit. This effort culminated in the production of Cabaret, winning no fewer than seven Olivier Awards in 2022.

‘Eddie Redmayne may be the star — and he’s mesmerisingly good too — but he really shares top billing with the venue itself.’
Clive Davis, The Times

Nominated for Theatre Building of the Year in The Stage Awards 2023. 

2023 Civic Trust Award Winner (Pro-Tem Award).* Civic Trust Pro-Tem Awards recognise temporary structures and installations that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment.

2023 RIBA London Architecture Award Winner. The RIBA judges commented: "The Kit Kat Club is a great example of how critical, light-touch interventions can transform an existing building. The key aspect of sustainability was in relation to the consideration given to the demountability of the new interventions. In addition, materials were salvaged and reused where possible, including the timber for the main set from original flooring, as well as some of the loose furniture." See the full citation: https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/regional-awards-2023-london-north-carmody-groarke-kit-kat-club-playhouse-theatre-culture-entertainment

2023 RIBA National Award Winner.

The original 40-year-old Polka Theatre in Wimbledon was the first UK theatre venue dedicated exclusively to children. This project features a refurbishment of the theatre with an added extension to the rear of the building led by Foster Wilson Size Architects.

Preston Bus Station, designed originally by BDP and completed in 1969, is a renowned, Grade II-listed Brutalist building, which Skelly & Couch has helped to return to its former glory through modern technologies and sensitive refurbishment techniques.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in north London is the only permanent outdoor theatre in the UK. During summer it opens its doors to an audience of 1,240 every evening. 

Skelly & Couch has completed Stage 4 design at the Grade II*-listed Rhodes House, Oxford, for a new world-class convening hub designed to encourage the global exchange of ideas across all cultures and nationalities.

The historic Richmond Adult Community College, which has its roots in the late 19th century (1895), has been given a new and sustainable lease of life by an impressive refurbishment and new-build development, meeting the highest standards of energy efficiency.

The £5m Special Exhibitions Gallery combines grand industrial beauty and stunning sustainable design as part of a masterplan to restore and renovate a Grade I-listed railway station, warehouse and Grade II-listed railway viaduct.