QQ23038 - External Professional Consultancy - NAC

Newhampton Arts Centre (NAC) is a multi-space and multi-user arts and cultural centre operating on a site located within Whitmore Reans (WV1 4AN) situated just to the north of the Wolverhampton ring road. It is a minute's walk from Molineux, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and five minutes walk to the city centre.

The site buildings are arranged in a rough quadrangle around a central courtyard that is used as car parking. The last significant capital investment in the site came twenty years ago in the redevelopment that brought NAC into being. Since then investment has been limited to maintenance and fixing building issues.

The building now is in urgent need of investment, fresh thinking and development to equip it for the role it has carved out over the past twenty years: Wolverhampton's hub for culture and creativity. NAC now manages the entire site, and the site has been used for purposes and to an extent never envisaged twenty-five years ago.

We are therefore seeking a suitable professional team to deliver RIBA 2 design, costs and business planning for NAC WV1 4AN.

List of buildings and functions onsite:

Studio Block: 1990s flat-roof design.

• Two large ground-floor and three medium first floor multi-use studio spaces suitable for classes, workshops, training events etc.
• One large carpeted studio space - the Rehearsal Theatre suitable for yoga, rehearsals etc.
• Three small offices.
• Northern and Eastern Elevation
• Victorian two-story building housing resident organisations RML - music studio; and Eden Support - day care.
• Single story building housing dance studio; music studio Beatsabar and two other small offices for residents.

Theatre Block

• Two-story building, mainly Victorian but with modern extension.
• 1990s extension - café and kitchen, toilets.
• Victorian building - ground floor theatre (320 standing, 140 seated), dressing rooms and technical
• storage.
• Victorian building first floor - five residents spaces of varying sizes.

Gallery Hall

• Victorian two-story building
• Large central area with two-story atrium currently used for exhibitions, formerly the school hall.
• Off this area on ground and first floor a number of classroom-sized resident spaces and a balcony
• running round the atrium. Glass-paned ceiling.

Radio Station Building

Two-story continuation of Gallery Hall with resident spaces including WCRfm (community radio station) and Gecko Training.

This is not an exhaustive list and there are approximately 75 rooms onsite.