
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
In 1967 Benjamin Britten and others instigated the conversion of the great Malt House at Snape to make a Concert Hall to house the performances of the annual Aldeburgh Festival. The hall, with its brilliant acoustics, its delicate and innovative roof structure, its simple, noble interior and of course its association with Britten has become a world famous performance venue.
Originally the smaller buildings attached to the Malt House seemed more than adequate for accommodating front and back of house uses. Over thirty years the demands on these spaces have become greater and greater: the demands of the movements of large numbers of performers, audience expectations of refreshment facilities, access for people with disabilities, for modern recording technology, fire safety requirements, wc provision, arts sponsorship and so on.
At the same time these buildings, built as impermanent agro-industrial structures have steadily deteriorated. We have designed alterations and extensions to the Maltings to improve facilities without compromising the qualities that have helped give it such a special space in musical culture world-wide. Construction was completed for the 1999 Aldeburgh Festival.