The Building FAQs
Why was the present site chosen?
It is in an area devoted to the arts, with the Royal Festival and Queen Elizabeth Halls, the Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery, the National Film Theatre and the Museum of the Moving Image. It is central and accessible to public transport. It is also in one of London's most magnificent situations, overlooking a beautiful reach of the Thames, with superb views across to Somerset House and the river curving up to St Paul's.
How was the building planned?
A Building Committee, under the joint chairmanship of Laurence Olivier and Norman Marshall worked out the brief for the stage areas. The committee included many immensely experienced theatre directors, designers and technicians - Stephen Arlen, Michael Benthall, Peter Brook, George Devine, John Dexter, Frank Dunlop, Michael Elliott, Roger Furse, William Gaskill, Peter Hall, Jocelyn Herbert, Sean Kenny, Norman Marshall, Tanya Moiseiwitsch, Laurence Olivier, Richard Pilbrow, Michel St Denis, Robert Stephens. Kenneth Tynan was also consulted.
Who designed it?
Sir Denys Lasdun - one of the country's leading architects. He was also the architect for the IBM building, the National's neighbour on the South Bank (1983), the University of East Anglia (1968), the Royal College of Physicians in Regent's Park (1960), and the flats in St James's Place overlooking Green Park (1958).
Why is the building so big?
The front, facing the river, is taken up with many terraces, foyers, and places to eat or drink, all intended to be welcoming and informal. At the back are rehearsal rooms and large workshops for making costumes and props, and building and painting scenery. And the three theatres, all radically different in design, occupy a lot of space.
Why three different theatres?
The Building Committee agreed that it was necessary to have two main auditoriums: one an open stage - an expression of what the committee felt a modern theatre should be; the other a more traditional proscenium theatre, providing the kind of stage most commonly used over the last 300 years. A small auditorium, as well, is crucial because theatre is always changing, and many of its most important changes start on a small scale and before a limited audience.
What are the three theatres like?
First, the Olivier. It is the largest and most radical of the three auditoriums. It is designed to be flexible enough to serve dramatists of every period. It can accommodate an audience of 1,160 people but has a concentrated intimacy. The auditorium is fan-shaped, with two main banks of sharply-raked seats sweeping down to the stage. A feature of the stage is the drum revolve, which combines the advantages of a revolving stage with two elevators to allow scenery and props to be moved on and off the drum during performances.
Next, the Lyttelton. It seats 890, also in two tiers, and is more conventional in appearance but has an adjustable proscenium stage. Part can be lowered to form an orchestra pit. The main acting area can be raked.
Lastly, the Cottesloe, the smallest of the three, holding up to 400 people. It is a simple rectangular room with two tiers of galleries on three sides, and a floor space that can be rearranged for actor and audience. The three theatres contain, in all, nearly 2,500 seats.
What other activities does the National offer?
An exciting and varied programme of events all year round, many of which are free, playing in the foyers, terraces and in Theatre Square, right by the river. The programme includes Platform performances (short early-evening events given up to twelve times a month in one of the theatres); a vigorous educational programme; varied and changing exhibitions; and live pre-performance music in the foyers, or outside in summer. The building has two restaurants (Mezzanine and the Terrace Cafe), an Espresso Bar, three buffets, seven bars; easy parking for more than 400 cars; a specialist theatre bookshop and two bookstalls; river walks, and terraces.
Original Consultants, Contractors and Architects
Architects
Denys Lasdun Redhouse & Softley
Theatre Consultants
Theatre Projects Consultants Ltd (Stage Engineering, Stage andArchitectural Lighting, Sound and Intercommunications)
Structural Engineers
Flint & Neill Partnership
Quantity Surveyors
Davis Belfield and Everest
Acoustical Consultants
Sound Research Laboratories Ltd, successor to Henry R Humphries
