The balcony seating dated back to the theatre’s opening nearly 40 years ago. The stalls seating was younger, but still very much ready for retirement. Both had served the Lyric Theatre well, but it was time for a careful and considered refresh that respected the room’s character while responding to how it is used today.
The project sits at the intersection of theatre planning and specialist lighting, where audience movement, visibility, and performance conditions are closely linked. In a room with varying riser heights and changing step directions, the challenge was to make stairs and aisles legible and intuitive without introducing light spill onto the stage. Aisle lighting that disrupts blackout moments can compromise artistic content, so the design needed to work equally well for audience navigation and live performance.
The existing seating was fully demolished and new seating installed within a tightly managed eight week closure period. Working closely with Blight Rayner and Series Seating, we developed a unified seating and lighting strategy that improves comfort and clarity, drawing directly from the style and proportions of the original seating.
The outcome reflects our approach to theatre design, grounded in how venues are actually used, where safety, comfort, and performance are resolved together rather than in isolation. Thoughtful upgrades, handled with care, can extend the life and character of a much loved theatre while quietly improving the audience experience in all the right ways.
