NW2 Participation Building and Theatre Square Ipswich, WGP Architects Suffolk, New Wolsey Property Photos
NW2 Participation Building and Theatre Square, Suffolk
1 June 2022
Design: WGP Architects
Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, south east England, UK

photo : Shaun Barber
NW2 Participation Building and Theatre Square in Suffolk is one of 17 projects which received a 2022 RIBA East Award.
NW2 Participation Building and Theatre Square, Suffolk, England
Jury Report
The NW2 Participation Building shows how even the most unpromising locations can start to be repaired and brought back into a proper civic dialogue.
Taking the top layer of a spiral car park ramp, the NW2 Participation Building establishes a series of spaces for community engagement and performance on an abandoned municipal site. A pleated gold roof canopy and black rubber-clad walls enclose a central public arena ? giving shelter to the forecourt of the New Wolsey Theatre and creating the conditions for public performance and other events in the round.
photo : Peter Cook
This project packs a punch, succeeding in being realised, where other proposals have foundered, transforming an unpromising part of Ipswich into a place that evidently has a buzz and which is gathering interest and energy.
This project is a useful exemplar for other towns across the country who are dealing with the legacy of post-war highway schemes, relinquishing an addiction to car parking revenues and the challenge of a lack of local authority fu...