Interior view looking towards the stage of a theatre.
Royal and Derngate, a Grade II listed theatre complex in Northampton. © Haworth Tomkins
Royal and Derngate, a Grade II listed theatre complex in Northampton. © Haworth Tomkins

Case Study: Royal & Derngate, Northampton

About the Royal & Derngate

The Royal Theatre is a Grade II listed building designed by the celebrated Victorian theatre architect C.J. Phipps and opened in 1884 as a producing theatre and opera house. It now forms part of a complex of connected buildings, in the heart of Northampton’s cultural quarter.

The Royal auditorium preserves original decorative features, including tall, fluted columns framing the boxes and scroll acanthus leaf motifs on the dress circle parapet, as well as a safety curtain painted by Henry Bird. 19th century production facilities including a purpose-built paintframe also remain in use.  In 1999, the Royal was merged with the adjacent Derngate Theatre (1983), designed by RHWL as a 1500 capacity multi-purpose space that can be configured in a variety of formats including touring theatre and opera, live music, dance, fashion and sports. The two theatres are now linked by shared foyer spaces and backstage facilities within a range of buildings from different periods, with partially integrated building services.

The Decarbonisation Plan

The Northampton Theatres Trust recently commissioned a comprehensive strategic review to examine the financial resilience and long-term sustainability of the organisation. The Decarbonisation Plan provided an opportunity to establish principles and priority areas for decarbonisation measures that could be included within the brief for any future redevelopment project.

The key aims of the Decarbonisation study were to establish the Royal & Derngate’s baseline operational energy and carbon performance, and to appraise options to reduce energy use, carbon emissions and running costs.

Due to the scale and complexity of the site, the study has provided a high-level assessment of potential measures to improve fabric performance and efficiency as well as identifying strategic opportunities for low and net zero carbon technologies. This provides a starting point from which the Trust can develop a coherent strategic plan for prioritisation and implementation.