FOXHOME - An Underground Theatre

The context of the project was the town of Melton Mowbray, England. The region is famous for its food culture and fox-hunting history, unfortunately the region has faced difficulty in recent times due to declining tourism growth and lack of cultural development programs. The proposal seeks to identify these issues and and create a socially and environmentally sustainable solution through urban redevelopment and historical consciousness.

Some of the challenge of the site included the large amount of parking lots and general disconnect between the city centre and the train station which caused poor first impression and visitor retention, the proposal sought to redevelop the pre-existing yet utilized path between the train station and the city centre through removal or movement of parking spaces and the addition of cycling paths as well as vegetation leading up to the main theatre and its pavilion, providing a social and physical centre to the pathway.

Goals/Requirements: • Create a more direct path between the train station and the city centre • Add versatile and adaptable spaces • Generate a culturally and historically conscious program that revitalizes local tourism

The design process evolved into a deep investigation into the inner workings of the traditional theatre topology as well as the relationship between the performers and the audience in order to generate versatile spaces with adequate capacity and usage. The main questions being asked: Who is the audience? How has theatre evolved through history? What is the theatre of the future?

Keys successes of the project involved the utilization of the information gathered from deep learning of local history and architectural as well as cultural history of theatre, fox-hunting, and urban development programs of the area. The pavilions created an exterior socializing space in a key area that can bring commercial and tourist revival as well as celebrate local culture.

Reflecting back on the project, the main stage mechanism could have seen more development as, although innovative, new, and adaptable, still feels like it has room for further development and utilization in more scenarios outside of performance.