Costume Centre Royal Opera House

The ‘Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre’ is the second building designed by Nicholas Hare Architects (NHA) for the Royal Opera House in the High House Production Park. It is a continuation of the success of the ‘Royal Opera House Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop’ for set design (completed in 2010).
The Costume Centre – commissioned by the Thurrock Council and supported by the European Fund for Regional Development – offers accommodation for new workplaces for making and repairing costumes and storage areas for opera and ballet attire. The building was also designed to accommodate public tours.
The centre also offers a special workshop for the South Essex College, where students (the next generation of costumiers) collaborate closely with ROH staff to, in this way, gain firsthand experience with ROH productions.
The centre has an innovative hybrid steel and wood construction. It is very well insulated, with a green roof, low energy consumption and energy recovery systems.
The black wood clad building  reminds one of the old barns that were here before and contrasts with the natural wood used to finish the production atelier. The building is a great addition to the central square in the park and, as is the case with the production workplace, is designed and built according to the highest environmental standards which is why they were granted a BREEAM Excellent Award.