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Bradford Live

Bradford, UK

Bradford Live is a building with history. First opened in 1930, this beautiful art deco venue served the community as a ballroom, theatre and cinema – becoming the first place in England to screen ‘talkies’.

In the 1950s, it was reincarnated as a live music venue, attracting legends including Tom Jones, Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. The 1960s saw the building once again transformed into an Odeon cinema and bingo hall, before changing fortunes forced it to close its doors in 2000.

The building then stood derelict until an ambitious renovation programme, driven by Bradford Live and backed by Bradford Council, envisioned its next life as a live music and events venue. As part of the retrofit and restoration team, º£½ÇÊÓƵ provided the MEP and lighting engineering required to restore the building to its former glory, and its rightful position at the epicentre of Bradford culture and community.

This art deco landmark first opened as the New Victoria theatre, cinema and ballroom in 1930.

The newly refurbished Bradford Live will be the largest mid-size venue outside London.

In hosting over 200 events a year, the venue will create jobs and boost the local economy.

One element of our sensitive MEP solutions was to repurpose 90-year-old ventilation duct routes to preserve the desired ‘as found’ aesthetic.

Challenge

As a practice, º£½ÇÊÓƵ is known for its experience in the refurbishment of historic buildings and significant landmarks. Even so, Bradford Live presented unique challenges for our MEP and lighting teams when it came to preserving and restoring original features, while also delivering environments that were comfortable, flexible and enjoyable for modern users.

The space constraints on this project were particularly complex. The venue had only two existing plant rooms in the basement, supporting a minimal amount of MEP – for example, the single fan that provided ventilation to most of the building. We needed to upgrade this to full services provision, including new air handling units, boilers and electrical systems, all of which still needed to be housed within the limited space available, and from there routed through the building without impacting the architecture.

Adding extra complexity was the unknown structural integrity of the building. In particular, the two concrete boxes that had been installed in the main auditorium to create cinemas when the building became an Odeon during the 1960s, raised concerns. How that new structure linked to the old structure, and indeed what remained of the original auditorium behind it, was unknown and would remain so until works started to uncover the original building beneath.

Solution

Rather than fighting against the constraints presented to us, we evolved our MEP design around them. Working with both the client and the architect, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ team looked at where we could locate equipment to best reflect both available areas and the differing use of spaces throughout the building. This meant considering whether MEP would be running to service the full auditorium, for example, or just the cabaret bar for a smaller event.

This informed our location of the plant rooms, which we then refined in tandem with the development of the wider architectural design. We produced bespoke models on site and in real time, working with the architect to deliver a streamlined and efficient system that made effective use of the confined spaces available.

To avoid adding weight to the historic structure we also kept services intervention as efficient as possible. Spaces such as the cabaret bar and the ballroom have been restored to their original Victorian splendour, with services concealed throughout. Within the auditorium, we refurbished the existing duct routes so they could accommodate our air distribution solution, complementing the stripped back aesthetic that celebrates both old and new by exposing the original brickwork and the new steel structure. Elsewhere, such as in the foyers, services have been left exposed for a more industrial feel.

As well as achieving a high standard of conditioning, our MEP design established the flexibility to service some spaces and not others, creating a highly efficient system that reduced capital costs, increased operational efficiency and improved environmental comfort.

Value

While the building was not listed at the outset of the project, so many beautiful and unexpected features were uncovered and restored in the process of refurbishment that Bradford Live is likely to gain listed status moving forward.

Among the amazing spaces that have been rediscovered inside the building is the original auditorium. Now fully refurbished to the latest standards, this 3,800 capacity space sits comfortably between the large Leeds Arena and the smaller St. George’s Hall in Bradford, making it a great ‘stepping stone’ venue for bands on the rise. Elsewhere, the ballroom, cabaret bar, and boiler room bar – to name just three of the six new bars – provide flexible spaces that can support a wide range of events, from smaller gigs, to weddings and conferences.

From retaining the four original boiler shells in the basement bar, celebrating the timber structure that was revealed in the roof of the auditorium, this is a refurbishment with style and integrity. Historic features and contemporary interventions stand side-by-side as testimony to the building’s varied and often brutal past, and a reminder that Bradford Live is a venue that has shaped the city’s past, present and future.