The 100,000 square foot academy was built on a brownfield site at Eagle Wharf next to Peckham’s Stirling Prize winning library.

The part 3, 4 and 5-storey building has a 200-seat main auditorium, 80-seat studio theatre and rooftop restaurant. It also contains training facilities including 23 dance/rehearsal/acting studios, dressing rooms, singing rooms, a radio suite and 2 TV studios, commercial/retail space, together with associated service yard/services infrastructure, public realm and drainage works.

The new cultural space accommodates 400 students, up to 800 community users and 100 full-time staff. Acoustic separation was critical. Cross talk attenuators were used to stop noise transfer in the dance studios. Bespoke acoustic vents cool the building naturally.