Eldridge Smerin works on Shakespeare’s Globe educational space

Eldridge Smerin is creating the interior design for the new Sackler Studios at the Shakespeare’s Globe theatre on London’s South Bank.

The new educational studios will be on the corner of Bear Gardens and Park Street, on the site of Shakespeare Globe Trust founder Sam Wanamaker’s first office, where he developed his ideas for the theatre.

Interiors are designed by Eldridge Smerin, while exteriors are by Jon Greenfield, who worked on the Globe Theatre while at Pentagram.

Eldridge Smerin consulted with students from Southwark, through organisation Globe Education, to develop a centre that reflected the theatre through the use of oak and the building shape.

Piers Smerin, co-founder of Eldridge Smerin, says, ‘We wanted to avoid a building that just looked like an educational building. We wanted to have something of the quirky character and quality of craftsmanship of the original theatre.’ He adds that the new building will feature ‘lightness and elegance’.

Smerin says the work was ‘technically quite complex’, as the building is sited on archaeological remains, and planning permission stipulated that elements of an original building façade remained in place.

It is hoped that the new studios will open towards the end of November.

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