Samuel Beckett Theatre

The practice was invited to associate with Professor Buckminster Fuller on this project, his first in the United Kingdom.

The proposal received its initial impetus as a theatre linked with the playwright Samuel Beckett. Buckminster Fuller's involvement extended the scope of the scheme to provide a multi-purpose space adaptable for a wide range of theatre configurations and capable of interpretation as a highly serviced teaching/exhibition space. The geodesic structural form was designed to withstand, in an economical manner, ground and sub-surface flotation pressures. The subterranean location of the building was a direct response to the lack of any suitable ground level site in Oxford and was also seen as a prototype to explore the potential for underground structures. Placed beneath the college quadrangle, it was in the most central position possible.

Client: St Peter's College, Oxford
Consultants: Anthony Hunt Associates, Hanscomb Partnership