Hull Truck Theatre Hull, United Kingdom

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Hull Truck Theatre

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This Hull Truck Theatre is a purpose-built theatre to replace the previous facility which was displaced by a town centre redevelopment. It comprises a single tier main auditorium in an octagonal space (439 seats) and a single tier studio auditorium within a rectangular space (134 seats).

The brief was to re-create a lively central home for the theatre, giving the company new opportunities for future work whilst providing a green sustainable building. It also highlighted the importance to both the company and the audience of maintaining the continuity between the former space and the new auditorium. To build on the existing venue’s popularity and its positive impact on the community and combine that with a more commercial viability, the capacity of the main auditorium was increased by 50% and an education suite was introduced for outreach programmes.

AMPC responded to the design challenge by carrying out numerous studies on performer/audience relationships, sightlines, the essence of thrust stages, and production lighting to accommodate the company’s broad programme of work.

Producing both technical and seating specifications, AMPC delivered a practical infrastructure for the theatre within a tight budget which included the auditoria seating, production lighting and sound, theatre engineering, and removable staging.

The building opened to popular acclaim in spring 2009, winning many architectural and inclusivity awards and was instrumental in the award of City of Culture to Hull for 2017. Today, Hull Truck has a lively programme of partnerships with children, schools, the RSC, and over-55s, and provides resources, space and support to artists and new ideas.

Hull Truck is an ambassador for the city of Hull and continues to be flagship venue for the region offering a theatre-led, mixed disciplinary programme of produced and touring work whilst being a welcoming home.