BAM has won a £28 million contract to carry out restoration works at the Southbank Centre in London.

The contractor will deliver renovations of the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room.

Designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the updates are described by the Southbank Centre as "long overdue".

Features include a glass pyramid roof at the Hayward Gallery to allow natural light into the area, as well as returning the upper galleries to their original height and renovating the stone floors.

In addition, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room auditoria will undergo restorations to their walls, floors, ceilings as well as retaining/restoring existing seats.


New technical facilities will be provided, while the foyer of the Hall will be refurbished with a new ceiling and the riverside hall will be opened up through glazing.

Other features of the project include more accessible dressing rooms and new/upgraded building services such as plant, heating and cooling, ventilation, lighting, water supply, and specialist stage lighting.

In addition, there will be new fire alarms, security and IT cabling. Exterior terraces will be repaired to improve drainage and accessibility.

All of the buildings' energy and environmental performance will also be improved.

The £28m project has been funded via two grants; one from the Heritage Lottery Fund [£4.4m] which includes a grant to develop Southbank Centre's archive and another through the Arts Council England [£16.7m.]

A campaign has also been launched by the Southbank Centre to raise the remaining £2.1m through creative sponsorship opportunities.

Mike Donegan, Construction Director of BAM, said: "The skill sets of our people are geared to creating complex and delicate structures, working sensitively, and within the very demanding economics and logistics of our capital city.

"I'm very proud that we're chosen to make these fantastic changes that so many people across the world will eventually experience."

(LM/CD)