Wales Millennium Centre
The Golden Armadillo | |
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| Location | Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales |
|---|---|
| Owner | Wales Millennium Centre |
| Operator | Wales Millennium Centre |
| Capacity | |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | February 2002 |
| Opened | 26-28 November 2004 |
| Construction cost | GB£106.2 million |
| Architect | Percy Thomas Partnership now Capita Percy Thomas |
| Tenants | |
Welsh National Opera. | |
The Wales Millennium Centre (Welsh: Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is a centre for the performing arts located on the Cardiff Bay waterfront. Opened during the weekend of the 26-28 November 2004, it has hosted performances of opera, ballet, dance, comedy and musicals. The building comprises two theatres, shops, bars and restaurants, and seven resident Welsh arts organisations.
The main theatre, Donald Gordon Theatre, holds 1900 people and the second theatre, the Weston Studio, has a maximum capacity of 250 people.
Construction history
Origins
The Centre is the successor to a previous project for the site, the Cardiff Bay Opera House. This was a plan, supported by the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation, to construct a permanent home for the world-famous Welsh National Opera. A design competition attracted international entries and was eventually won by Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid. Her design was a radical glass structure that surrounded the main theatre. However, the project failed to win financial support from the Millennium Commission, the body which distributed funds from the UK National Lottery.
Many claim that the original bid failed because of the widespread unpopularity of the Millennium Commission support for the Royal Opera House in London, which was seen as elitist. In fact, opera in Wales has a broad popular appeal. There were also concerns that the development was financially unsustainable. Others say that the project was destroyed by conservatism and provincialism in relation to the modern architecture, and by Cardiff Council's support for the Millennium Stadium.
After this, a new project was conceived that included more than opera and was felt to be a better reflection of Welsh culture. The change of name symbolised this, but the project still had to overcome many hurdles. Funding from the Welsh Assembly and Millennium Commission took years to obtain. Cardiff Council had to buy the land after the previous owners, Grosvenor Waterside (Associated British Ports property division) threatened to built a retail centre there due to the delays. Further boosts were given by large donations from South African businessman Donald Gordon and a loan from the international bank, HSBC. The GB£20 million donation from Donald Gordon was split evenly between the Royal Opera House and Wales Millennium Centre and was spread over five years. This is believed to be the largest single private donation ever made to the arts in the UK.[1]
Design and construction of the Wales Millennium Centre
The centre was designed by Jonathan Adams, of local architects, Capita Percy Thomas, with Arup Acoustics providing the acoustic design. Construction began on the 25 February 2002, the main contractor being Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd[2] and Kelsey Roofing Industries Ltd being the roofing contractor.[3] Carr and Angier were the theatre consultants.[4]
The architect's concept of the building was to design a building that expressed 'Welshness' and that was instantly recognisable.[4] The building was designed to reflect the many different parts of Wales with local Welsh materials that dominate its history; slate, metal, wood and glass.[5] All the materials used come from Wales.
Slate
The exterior of the building is clad in multi-coloured slate collected from Welsh slate quarries. Narrow windows are built into the layers of slate to give the impression of rock strata they depict the different stone layers in sea cliffs. The purple slate came from the Penrhyn Quarry, the blue from Cwt y Bugail Quarry, the green from the Nantlle Valley, the grey from Llechwedd quarry, and the black from the Corris Quarry. The slate industry in Wales changed the landscape of North Wales forever and is a part of Welsh heritage.[4]
Multi-coloured layers of slate
Jonathan Adams, the architect, said:
I always loved going to Ogmore and Southerndown. I thought the cliffs there looked like a building anyway. A building capable of withstanding the roughest weather for hundreds of years. The older they get, the better they look. I wondered if it would be possible to make a building which had the same qualities as these magnificent cliffs. To do that I needed a lot of stone. Normal stone for buildings has to be specially cut into blocks; it takes a long time to make and costs a fortune. But in North Wales the historic slate industry has left behind whole mountains of waste stone that no-one wants. This was stone cut from the mountainside for nearly two hundred years but which wasn’t good enough to make roof slates. Over 90% was thrown away. But it was ideal for making walls like the one I had in mind...[5]
Metal
Copper oxide coated sheet steel
The structure is dominated by a huge dome, clad in steel which has been treated with copper oxide to give it a bronze colour. It has been designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the waterfront, and to look better with age. The steel industry was once a major employer in Wales, which is why it was decided to use bronze coloured textured stainless steel for the shell dome. The architect decided against using copper and aluminium because they would both change colour with weathering.[4]
Jonathan Adams said:
We all know that steel making has been important to South Wales, just as slate making has changed the landscape of the north. We have to use a special type of steel that won’t go rusty near to the salt-laden, maritime air of Cardiff Bay. This stainless steel will be made near to Pontypool. For the Wales Millennium Centre I thought it was important that the materials should have a "natural" texture, and that they should be instantly recognisable to anyone seeing them, even from a distance. For this reason I felt it was important that the steel of the shell should have the rough grain and the riveted pattern that we think of as more typical of old industrial structures, such as those that used to be commonplace around the landscape of the industrial south.[5]
Wood
Used on the balconies
Both inside and outside the building, including the main Donald Gordon theatre, the balconies and the rear of the building, is dominated by bands of hardwood lining the walls.[4]
Jonathan Adams said:
Like the exterior of the building, the principle internal spaces are designed to make the best use of natural materials in their natural state. The structure and detail of the concourse galleries echo the form of the exterior, with the curving strata formed in native hardwoods. Oak, ash, beech, sycamore, alder, birch, chestnut and cherry woods from renewable sources in mid-Wales will be used together in proportions that reflect their relative availability from the forest. The design of the concourse galleries is intended to evoke the image of the edge of the forest, partly as a counterpoint to the coastal nature of the exterior, and partly because the edge of the forest in folklore and mythology represents a line between the real world and the magical world, a line which resembles the front edge of the theatre stage. The form of trees is created by the interweaving curvature of the gallery edges, and by the random positioning of the supporting columns.[5]
Glass
Bands of glass from the inside
Glass was used to incorporate into the bands of slate. The glass is Template:Cm to in thick and was cut and installed by the Architectural Glass Department at Swansea Institute. Glass is used not in the contemporary British architectural style of the glass curtain.[4]
Jonathan Adams said:
The glass veins in the external walls of the Wales Millennium Centre make use of conventional glass in a unique way: the sheets of glass are stacked together and fused in a kiln to form solid blocks.[5]
Calligraphy
Inscribed on the front of the dome, above the main entrance, are two poetic lines, written by Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis. The Welsh version is Creu Gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais awen, which means "Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration". The English is In These Stones Horizons Sing. The lettering is formed by windows in an upstairs bar area; these are internally illuminated at night, giving spectacular reflections in the water features.[4]
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The front windows from the inside
Jonathan Adams said:
The idea of this monumental inscription comes from Roman classical architecture. The Romans brought Christianity to these islands, along with the custom of engraving stone. The form of the Celtic cross embodies the cross-fertilisation of indigenous and Roman cultures, from which the Welsh nation first emerged. The monumental inscription is a familiar feature of Roman architecture. The inscription over the entrance of the Wales Millennium Centre is a revival of this classical tradition, and also a recognition of the formative influence of Roman culture upon our nation. We’re lucky to have two languages; one that we share with half the world and one which belongs just to us. Words in songs, stories and poems have helped to make Wales the proud country that it is.[5]
Construction of the BBC Hoddinott Hall
during construction
The second phase of construction of the Wales Millennium Centre will be completed by autumn 2008, named the BBC Hoddinott Hall. It will be a custom-built broadcast, recording and performance facility for BBC National Orchestra of Wales and holding 350 people, together with a second space for practice rooms, administration offices, a music library and backstage facilities.[6]
The BBC Hoddinott Hall was again designed by the same design team, but they are now called Capita Architecture and construction has been carried out again by Sir Robert McAlpine.[7]
Funding
The total cost of the project was GB£106.2 million. The National Lottery Millennium Fund provided £31.7 million, a further £37 million came from The National Assembly for Wales and £10.4 million was donated by the Arts Council of Wales. In addition a private investor, South African businessman Donald Gordon donated £20 million to be shared equally between the Royal Opera House and the Wales Millennium Centre. The centre also received a £13.5 million loan from HSBC. The remaining funds for the project came from a major sponsorship deal with the Principality Building Society.[4] Today the Centre has many corporations and public bodies who provide sponsorship to the Centre.[8]
The National Assembly for Wales announced on 6 November 2007 that it was to pay off the outstanding loan of £13.5 million from HSBC and also increase the annual funding. This would only repay the capital debt and not any ongoing operating loss as the Centre remains profitable. The money used to pay the debt came from unallocated funds from the Assembly's previous budget and it was said by heritage minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas that the new money allocation would not come at the expense of other art projects from other parts of Wales.[9]
Resident organisations
During its design, it was decided that Wales Millennium Centre would be home to 7 Resident arts companies, all of whom would create, develop and promote new work:
- Academi - The Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society For Writers
- Diversions - the Dance Company of Wales
- Hijinx Theatre - an award-winning, innovative theatre company that promotes community work, aiming to bring together people of all ages
- Touch Trust - providing educational touch and movement therapies to people with profound disabilities and autism
- Tŷ Cerdd - music information centre for Wales’ amateur and professional musicians
- Urdd Gobaith Cymru (The Welsh League of Youth)
- Welsh National Opera.
They all have office and work space in the Centre, with performance spaces, rehearsal halls, a fully equipped recording studio, and a dance house. Urdd Gobaith Cymru also runs accommodation for 150 people in the centre. It is anticipated that up to 10,000 schoolchildren and young people per year, from across Wales, will spend a week in the Centre, experiencing the range of cultural activities.
The links with Touch Trust, a pioneering charity which provides multi-sensory therapy for people with profound disabilities mean that in addition to a therapy room, partnership with a number of the resident groups of the WMC has provided participation for the disabled in some productions.
In popular culture
Doctor Who and Torchwood
The Centre has begun to take on iconic status amongst the people of Wales and the rest of the UK, making numerous appearances in film and television including Doctor Who. It has appeared five times to date: as itself from outside in the episode "Boom Town", its marquee momentarily at the end of the episode "Bad Wolf", its lobby as a hospital lobby in the far future in the episode "New Earth", briefly in the episode "Utopia" and in the final episode of series 3, "Last of the Time Lords".
The spin-off series Torchwood is set underneath the Basin, with the Millennium Centre's frontage featuring heavily through the show.
Jones Jones Jones
On 3 November 2006, a record breaking attempt to gather the most people with the same surname, Jones, took place in the centre under the show banner Jones Jones Jones, filmed for television by S4C. The record was broken with 1224 Joneses filling the Donald Gordon Theatre. [10]
Notes
- ^ Donald Gordon donates £20 million to Royal Opera and Wales Millennium Centre
- ^ "Work starts on Wales Millennium Centre". goholidays.net. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ "Wales Millennium Centre roof windload analysis". Ramboll Whitbybird Limited. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Wales Millennium Centre". SPG Media Limited. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
- ^ a b c d e f "Vision - Unmistakably Welsh and internationally outstanding". Wales Millennium Centre. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
- ^ BBC Cymru Wales Annual Review 2006/2007
- ^ Work underway on WMC's new addition
- ^ "Corporate Support". Wales Millennium Centre. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "The Wales Millennium Centre, Rhodri Glyn Thomas, the Minister for Heritage". Welsh Assembly Government. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "1,224 Joneses have broken the world record!". UHMedia*. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
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