The Granville Theatre began life as a seafront concert enclosure in 1914, before being rebuilt in 1947 following WW2 damage. In more recent years, the auditorium was split in two and operated as a cinema before closing its doors in 2020, with a huge list of repairs already needed. By the time new owners Westwood One got the keys at the very end of 2022, the building had been vacant for two and a half years and was derelict, damp and in need of rescuing.

The brief was challenging - a full retrofit and refurbishment of the theatre, with a new entrance foyer, café and rooftop bar, all realised within a target of 6 months from planning to opening the doors!

Key moves included reinstating the original theatre space to provide a single, 600-seat auditorium and improving the entrance sequence by providing a new, fully glazed foyer with sea views, offering the opportunity to open out to the promenade as well. The new café and bar in the foyer serve both visitors to the theatre as well as passers-by and dog walkers.

Improving accessibility was also a key aim as the existing building did not provide any wheelchair access to the theatre. Despite the level constraints of the existing building, step-free access is now provided to all areas, including the auditorium. Two permanent wheelchair positions, each with a carers seat, are available at ground level and new accessible toilets are located to the side of the new foyer.

As with the refurbishment of any performance space, there was a significant amount of work involved in providing new, more efficient services, including the replacement of the existing ventilation, lighting and fire detection systems. These works all help to reduce the theatre’s energy consumption and lower operating costs.

 The original theatre’s single-glazed foyer with steel-framed Crittal windows was a later addition.  With its exposed cliff-top position and SW orientation, this foyer proved to be cold and drafty in the winter and uncomfortably hot in the summer. With this in mind, we proposed to retain as much of the existing steel roof structure as possible but to properly insulate the foyer with a solid roof to provide a greater level of insulation during winter months and solar shading in the summer.

Against all the odds, thanks to the huge effort from the Client and the whole team involved, the doors did indeed open to the public within the planned timeframe, with some of the less critical works coming later, as funding allowed.  The final piece of the Granville jigsaw, the new rooftop bar, tucked behind the flytower, with full height glazing providing panoramic sea views, is due to open in summer 2025.

In the short space of time it has been open again, the theatre has raised over £11,000 for charity through community events and has become a key player in Thanet’s arts and entertainment offerings, bringing The Bombay Bicycle Club, Jack Dee and The Little Angel Theatre’s puppets to its stage, to name but a few recent performances.

“(The) theatre continues to prove that live performance is not just about entertainment - it’s about changing lives”
Sounds and Stage

More photographs coming soon….