British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Headquarters

The design enhances BAFTA’s international identity as the centre of excellence for motion picture arts in Film, Games and Television; integrating innovative state-of-the-art technology and cost-in-use efficiency while sensitively balancing education/learning and public access with members’ needs and revenue generation, ensuring the charity’s long-term social, environmental & economic sustainability. The comprehensive expansion of BAFTA’s grade II Listed 195 Piccadilly headquarters; the charity’s home since 1974. Built in 1883 as the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour when newly snubbed by neighbours the Royal Academy; its size, layout and old services severely limited BAFTA’s ability to deliver an ever-wider range of charitable activities. A new Crown Estate lease taking BAFTA beyond its 100th anniversary prompted commissioning Benedetti as architects & interior designers for a full expansion and redesign. The 2,050m2 iconic building was tired, unfit-for-purpose and expensive to run/maintain. The design creates 2465m2 state-of-the-art spaces with greater flexibility, balancing the charity’s education/learning programmes with members’ needs and raising income. At the heart of the design is the Learning & New Talent floor floor (including the Clore Duffield Foundation’s 1st UK learning space dedicated to moving images) a core of the charity’s mission, enabling them to support the inspiration and training of diverse young creatives in Film, Games and Television. The design facilitates BAFTA’s capability to reach underrepresented communities, ie: bespoke support for ±4,000/yr talented individuals; via events/competitions/initiatives equipping ±80,000/yr with tools for a career in film/games/TV, and engaging ±10 million/yr learners online. The design significantly increases usable area, doubling capacity & WC’s, reconfiguring infrastructure to improve fire safety, energy performance, acoustics, thermal comfort, useability. The unifying interior design of well-detailed classic materials enhances BAFTA’s unique character, celebrates its historic assets. The inventive re-working of various combinations of spaces, volumes, views and sequential movement enables robust charitable/commercial adaptability and opportunities for special-event theatrical ‘reveals’, securing long-term social/economic sustainability. Most strikingly revelatory is a new top floor members bar/restaurant area created by restoring/raising/re-integrating two enormous 1883 Victorian rooflights plasterwork/structure blocked & hidden 40 years and considered lost. It is raised 3m and enclosed with new innovative high-performance ‘smart’ liquid-crystal glazing (its first UK use) giving spectacular views over St James’s Churchyard. Energy efficiencies throughout of ±73% equate to saving 292 tonnes of carbon/year. The Learning/New Talent bar-screen is an organic 3D-printed fabric-like form maximising surface area, using a new material (another first UK use) that removes carbon/nitrous oxides from the air, equivalent to a young tree. The scheme includes: 227‐seat Princess Anne cinema/theatre (designed with Dolby ensuring it’s the UK’s best), 41‐seat cinema/theatre, four kitchens/bars, multi‐purpose event/exhibition spaces, new boardroom re‐using historic materials found during construction (with bespoke table/chairs by Benedetti Architects), judging/meeting rooms, staff welfare/offices, and new terraces overlooking Piccadilly and St. James’s Church. In close collaboration with our client and consultants; partnering agreements with innovative firms like Dolby, Merck, Noumena, Christie etc; and an excellent contractor over 2.5yrs construction through COVID, the £25m construction completed on time and budget Sept.’21, for soft launch Nov.’21 and public opening Jan.’22.