Roundhouse lines up for Lottery restoration

Design work is likely to be up for grabs at north London’s legendary performance space in The Roundhouse, following this week’s £2.4m Heritage Lottery Fund award towards its restoration.

The Grade II listed building, which has witnessed naked theatre and Spiral Tribe raves in its time, is being revamped as an arts centre, with an annex featuring a theatre, bars and restaurants. The plans also involve the development of a ‘creative centre’.

‘We are looking at our marketing needs at the moment. Our logo guidelines are already tied up,’ says development and marketing director Lucy Beevor.

A brief is likely to be finalised before the end of the month. Beevor is meeting The Roundhouse board member John Sorrell, former Design Council chairman and Interbrand UK, on 16 October to discuss the details.

Sorrell is advising The Roundhouse on brand development and the language it uses to reach its audiences. He is not charging a fee for the work.

The Roundhouse Trust needs to raise around £20m by May 2002 before it can ‘push the button’ to allow the project to go ahead, says Beevor. So far, the trust has raised £13.5m.

Print material will certainly be needed to support the fundraising effort, Beevor adds.

A website, which will be launched on 16 November, is being created by Tonic Design, following a three-way pitch in July. The fee is believed to be ‘reasonable’, but reflects the fact that The Roundhouse is a charitable organisation. Design director Simon Heys is leading Tonic’s Web design team, with a brief to raise awareness of The Roundhouse project.

Only the shell of the original structure will be retained. The architect for the project is John McAslan & Partners.