About the Project

Bath's Fashion Theatre celebrates the site's rich textile heritage by creating a community-led costume design workshop combined with a much-needed large public performance space. Located near the University of Bath Spa's fashion department, the theatre fosters collaboration between students and local residents, enabling donated clothes to be recycled into costumes showcased in plays and exhibitions. Supporting social inclusion and economic growth, the project encourages participation from both Twerton and Weston communities, offering opportunities to engage in costume making and performance. Situated within a performance cluster on Weston Island, the design emphasizes a welcoming sense of arrival via a new bridge and develops a public realm that connects the theatre with neighboring buildings and the wider island, enriching the cultural and social fabric of the area. A key design principle is the ability to show and hide performances across multiple stages, achieved by breaking the theatre into four timber boxes interconnected by bridges, stairs, and walkways, all sheltered beneath a large steel shed. This shed provides rain protection while allowing external circulation and the hanging of lights and backdrops from its primary trusses, creating flexible indoor and outdoor performance spaces that invite public interaction under an open roof. The fragmented timber boxes reduce massing, respond to the original focus on fabrics and performance. A lightweight, veil atop the shed further enhances the selective display of performances, reinforcing Bath's Fashion Theatre as a vibrant social and creative hub.