Scottish Ballet at Tramway

The scheme design that Malcolm Fraser Architects presented at this stage established four primary architectural strategies, and these remain in the completed project:

• A strong visual connection between Tramway’s internal ‘street’ and the new ‘route’ up into Scottish Ballet’s building
• A ‘Court’ space that would form a social focus and a ‘heart’ for the whole company
• Studio 1 sitting above the higher workshop area and set back from the perimeter of the site to assist with height and massing concerns from Development Control
• Well proportioned rehearsal spaces, naturally lit and ventilated at high level and utilising exposed ‘thermal mass’ to create a good working environment for the dancers

The completed building is organised by its section with the technical areas at ground floor; administration and wardrobe departments located at first floor and most dance related activity at the top of the building. This ‘stratification’ of the design answered the programmatic needs of the company but raised concerns that departments might inadvertently isolate themselves from one another. To ensure that creative communication could flourish in the new building, the team developed the primary circulation routes in the new building, ensuring that a variety of activities would enliven them and then focussed these routes on an internal ‘social court’ - a wood lined space, lit with a large south facing skylight that forms the heart of the both the building and the company.

Scottish Ballet’s new home is made up of a small renovated section of the old Tramway and a large new-build extension that occupies what was the derelict end of the heritage structure. As well as the technical challenges, Malcolm Fraser Architects had to create a design that would keep all of Scottish Ballet under one roof – from dancers to technicians to the education team – as well as being tough enough to withstand the gritty reality of city life.

To achieve this, the architectural team chose coloured aluminium panelling for the exterior of the upper levels and a robust concrete cladding at street level, a combination that provides both style and substance. Inside, the design is a haven of space and light.

All of the studios are naturally ventilated, an approach that helps to reduce running cost and carbon emissions. They also provide a more natural atmosphere for the dancers.

The team of architects looked closely at how Scottish Ballet interacted in its old building in order to really understand how Scottish Ballet works and what it needed in its new headquarters.

The new building has given Scottish Ballet the chance to engage with and be inspired by a wide community of artists from other art forms, as well as the local community itself.

We’re absolutely thrilled to be part of Tramway; it has completely transformed how we work as a company and how we connect with the wider community – this is crucial to our work as Scotland’s national dance company.

Building Organisation

Large, robust workshop spaces are located at ground floor with good levels of natural daylight at the perimeter of the spaces. The design minimizes the number of structural steel columns in the 8 metre high workshop area to create maximum flexibility for the future. Access for a 45 foot articulated lorry into the workshop area is situated next to the ‘service yard’ on the south side of the new building. High floor to ceiling levels permit a mezzanine storage area to be incorporated at the south-east corner of the building; here a projecting ‘display’ window allows passers-by to view some of the props used in previous productions and hint at the activity within the building, as well as offering Scottish Ballet the opportunity to announce their latest productions to the busy Pollokshaws Road.

At first floor the main administration areas are situated in two converted ‘Stables’ spaces within the existing Tramway building. Two linking corridors connect these areas into the top lit main social court. From here it is possible to see all parts of the company with internal windows connecting down into the technical areas and giving glimpsed views up into the dance studios. The ‘green room’ (a relaxation area with kitchen facilities, internet access and comfy seating) opens onto this space as does the wardrobe department which has a large glazed wall, overlooking and animating Pollokshaws Road allowing glimpsed views of the elaborate costumes being made inside.

The design and layout of the big rehearsal spaces situated at the top of the building are governed by the need for ease of access from the scene lift for manoeuvring props and scenery into the studios, and for good, even levels of controllable daylight. Studios 2 & 3, which are set out along the Pollokshaws Road elevation, adopt a natural light and ventilation strategy, using east facing clerestory windows and east facing skylights above the mirrored wall. Plastered concrete block walls at low level and exposed concrete roof planks within these studios give the necessary thermal mass that assist in creating a stable thermal environment – less prone to fluctuations in temperature, and permit the spaces to be naturally ventilated, reducing the building’s carbon emissions. Windows are carefully located in both studios to capture surrounding views without compromising the inherent privacy of these company spaces. Studio 1 is located directly above the 8 metre high workshop area. As the main focus of the company’s work, the studio receives special architectural treatment. Nine huge trapezoidal west facing skylights direct and diffuse daylight into this dramatic space. Similar to studios 2 & 3 the team have struck a balance between exposing mass to provide good thermal stability and the need for acoustic linings to dampen down sound reverberation. An internal window connects the space back to the social court at the heart of the building, while a picture window on the north of the studio captures the view back to the centre of Glasgow.

Externally the building uses an anodised aluminium sheet cladding material in a series of ‘striated’ bands and colour that help to reduce the mass of the building. The material has a slight reflective quality that will mirror and diffuse the changing tones of daylight throughout the year. Crisply detailed aluminium cornices set between the bands of cladding cast shadows across the elevations and help to animate and give scale to the building. The upper elevations of the building will have a gold anodised finish to help accentuate, and break up the mass of the façade onto Pollokshaws Road, but also create dramatic glowing reflections across the building when the sun is low in the sky. Pigmented pre-cast concrete cladding panels at street level, make the building robust at places where it needs to deal with the day-to-day activity of the city.

The building was completed on site in June 2009 at a cost of £8.25M.