CASE STUDY | FAIRFIELD HALLS Modern revival Fairfield Halls theatre in Croydon is a prime example of 1960s public architecture, so when Max Fordham was asked to devise a services strategy during a major refurbishment, it had to stay faithful to the original while maintaining 21st-century comfort and efficiency. Andy Pearson reports A fter a 42m refurbishment by MICA Architects, Croydons Faireld Halls performance venue has been returned to its original 1960s design intent. The foyer has been decluttered and the two main auditoria, the Phoenix Concert Hall and the Ashcroft Theatre, have been brought up to date. An underused gallery space to the south has also been converted into two multipurpose creative spaces to expand the types of events the Halls can host. Trying to bring a 1960s public building up to current comfort standards has been quite a challenge. From a building services perspective, this means delivering the modern levels of comfort and ventilation expected of a 21st century venue, but with the same ducts, risers and plantrooms that served the original scheme. One of the really tricky things with working on existing buildings is the constraints they impose on the MEP, says Edmund Chan, principal engineer at Max Fordham, the projects MEP, lighting and acoustic engineers. The giant 1,600-seat Concert Hall (1,800 seats including the choir stalls) is at the heart of the building. Its rows of reconditioned, deep-red, material-covered seats are set against panels of Japanese oak that line the auditoriums lower walls. Rising up from the joinery is the halls supporting concrete frame, complete with double-skinned brick inll panels, its form clearly visible in the white of the upper walls. At the junction of these two nishes is a dark-coloured band, which contains two rows of jet nozzles for supply air ventilation. Perimeter ventilation supply was a legacy of the original system that Chan has had to adapt to work for the halls new ventilation scheme. At this point, it should be mentioned that the outstanding acoustics of the original Concert Hall meant that it had a reputation as one of the best venues for MEP engineers had to work within the constraints of the orchestral music in Europe. So good was its original buildings scheme reputation, that it was used by the BBC to record classical music performances, mostly without the audience present. In the original 1960s installation, ductwork transported tempered fresh air from the Concert Halls plantroom, located above the stage, and through the auditorium ceiling void, from where it dropped down the walls through voids between the brick inll panels to supply air to perimeter grilles. The architects philosophy of being true to the original means that alterations to the walls, ceiling or wood panelling were not an option, so Max Fordham had to use 44 October 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Oct20 pp44-47 Fairfield Halls Supp.indd 44 25/09/2020 16:43