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Dezeen Wire: architecture critic Jay Merrick has praised the £22 million extension of Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama by BFLS Architects, explaining that the spaces perform functionally as well as succeeding in “generating an atmosphere that can only be described as happening.”
Particular complements are reserved for the “superbly crafted recital hall,” which Merrick says comes as a pleasant surprise from the architects responsible for the “controversial” Strata development in London (winner of the 2010 award for Britain’s ugliest building), and for the two-storey central hub, which he explains “makes contextual and human sense of [architect]Jason Flanagan’s virtuosic diagram” – The Independent
See our previous story on the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama here.
A slatted timber concert hall bulges through the glass atrium walls of this performing arts college in Cardiff by London studio BFLS.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
The 450-seat timber auditorium occupies one of three new blocks at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which adjoin an existing building on the park-side site.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
A triple-height atrium and exhibition hall connects the separate blocks under a single metal roof.
A bridge across the foyer links the recital hall with a 180-seat theatre in a curved stone-clad block opposite.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
The third new block, which abuts the existing college building, houses a café and bar on the ground floor and a movement studio above.
Above: photograph is by BFLS
BFLS are best-known for designing the Strata tower in south London, which last year was awarded as the ugliest building in the UK – see our earlier Dezeen Wire here.
Above: photograph is by BFLS
Photography is by Nick Guttridge, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information from BFLS:
Transformed Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama opens its doors to students
The newly completed Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff – Wales’ national music and drama conservatoire – opens to a new intake of students this month.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
Won in international competition in 2007, the scheme comprises an acoustically excellent 450‐seat chamber recital hall (the ‘Dora Stoutzker Hall’), a 180‐ seat theatre (the ‘Richard Burton Theatre’), four rehearsal studios, an exhibition gallery (the ‘Linbury Gallery’) as well as generous foyer areas, a terrace overlooking Bute Park and a new Café Bar.
The £22.5m project is funded by a grant from the Welsh Government, loan finance and £4m of philanthropic donations. The scheme has been designed to be BREEAM ‘excellent’.
The new buildings are situated within the Grade I listed Bute Park. Directly across the road from the new building is Cathays Park, the civic centre of Cardiff, consisting of a number of important listed buildings.
As Jason Flanagan, Project Director explains: ‘Our approach was two‐fold, to design the internal performance spaces from the ‘inside out’, looking at their acoustic and theatrical functionality as major drivers, whilst in parallel designing from the ‘outside in’, thinking about the civic presence of the building in its urban context.’
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
Hilary Boulding, RWCMD Principal, adds: ‘These new facilities have completely transformed the College. They have inspired our staff and students, and provided us with the very best facilities in which to train our talented young artists and arts practitioners.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
Furthermore, the new development is rapidly becoming a major new landmark in Wales’ capital city, attracting new audiences to the College and in doing so, helping to significantly raise our profile.’
The design focuses on the core needs of the College community, namely an acoustically impressive sequence of performance and learning spaces which will encourage and inspire the College’s students.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
The client was very specific from the outset that the new buildings should act as a catalyst for positive cultural change and help foster greater artistic collaboration across the institution.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Although the building appears to be a single structure it is in fact three separate new buildings and a renovated existing structure. Each performance space has been conceived separately, the individual components of the building united under a single floating roof, its height determined by the theatre fly‐tower.
The drama building forms a new façade on North Road while the chamber recital hall, clad with a timber screen consisting of light‐coloured cedar wood slats, sits amongst the park’s mature trees. Finishes of stone and timber create a sequence of warm and tactile interior spaces.
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
The new entrance to the college opens out onto Bute Park and a treble‐height arcade forms a new spine between the new and old accommodation, linking the constituent elements, functioning as exhibition space for a range of creative and artistic output.
The Gallery also acts as the ‘lungs’ for the scheme, creating a natural stack effect which ventilates the public spaces.
Project details
Area: 4,400 m2
Status: Completed 2011
Value: £22.5 million
Above: photograph is by Joe Clark
Team
Client: Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
BFLS team: Jason Flanagan, Paul Bavister, Jason Sandy, Anne Heucke, Kibwe Tavares, Armando Elias
Acoustic Engineer: Arup Acoustics
Structural & Services Engineer: Mott MacDonald
Lighting Consultant: Equation Lighting
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants
Cost Consultant: Davis Langdon
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| High School #9 by Coop Himmelb(l)au | Tour des Arts by Forma 6 | New World Centre by Frank Gehry |
This house cantilevered over a river in Wales is by London studio Featherstone Young.
Called Ty Hedfan – meaning “hovering house” in Welsh – the residence is divided into two contrasting wings.
The first is cantilevered over the river and contains the double-height living room, kitchen and dining room, plus bedroom and bathrooms in the roof space, all arranged around an elevated courtyard.
The second wing is submerged in the ground and covered by a green roof, containing a guest room and study room.
The house is made from locally sourced materials including slate, stone and wood.
Also by Featherstone Young: Wieden + Kennedy offices.
More residential architecture on Dezeen »
More buildings featuring cantlievers on Dezeen »
The following information is from the architects:
Featherstone Young complete Ty-Hedfan, a new house in Brecon Beacons, Wales
Ty-Hedfan is a new house perched above a river in a small village at the top of a valley, five miles from Brecon and the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park. The site is quite unique, sloping down to the confluence of two rivers, Ysgir Fach and Ysgir Fawr, that run across the length of the property.
Ty- Hedfan, meaning ʻhovering houseʼ takes full advantage of this river side location. Because of a statutory 6m no-build zone along the river bank, it cantilevers the main living areas up to the river bank and elevates them amongst the trees.
The house is a further exploration of the practiceʼs interest in highly site specific and contextual architecture, taking its cue from the traditional Welsh long house form, using local materials such as slate and stone and by fully utilizing the topography of the site to create a striking and unique form.
The house totals 2400sqft (223sqm) of internal living space which is split into two quite differently constructed wings:
The main house wing has the cantilevered living room and a double height kitchen and dining spaces that open onto an elevated courtyard overlooking the garden, river and countryside. The upper floor of this wing, partially within the roofspace, contains 2 bedrooms and bathrooms.
The second wing is perpendicular to the first and partially buried into the sloping ground. It has a gently sloping green sedum roof that appears to be an extension of the garden behind.
This wing comprises two guest bedrooms and a study room with bed mezzanine, all with full height windows and doors opening up onto a riverside deck. Punctuating the green roof are irregular shaped rooflights bringing ample daylight into this semi sunken area.
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The main wing construction is a hybrid timber and steel frame structure clad with traditional slate and locally sourced stone. Large timber framed windows on the south and southwest elevations maximize the thermal benefits from solar gain. Insulated thermal mass is added through the two large stone walls wrapping the main house and forming the entrance hall and interface with the lower guest wing. The guest wingʼs concrete retaining walls and green sedum roof add further thermal mass whilst solar panels and an air source heat pump ensure the house is energy efficient.
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Local contractors Osborne Builders of Builth Wells built Ty-Hedfan and is a family run business employing skilled carpenters and stone masons. Four men single handedly were able to build the house from beginning to end crossing all trades from the heavy concrete and timber structure through to the fine finishing of joinery and mosaic tiling.
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| Balancing Barn by MVRDV and Mole Architects | Piracicaba House by Isay Weinfeld | Ty Pren by Feilden Fowles |
Slate roof tiles extend down the exposed north facade of this house in Wales by London studio Feilden Fowles.
Called Ty Pren, the gabled timber-framed building is clad on three sides in larch felled from the owners’ land.
More trees have been planted nearby in anticipation of replacing the larch cladding in 25 years’ time.
The Welsh slate used for the roof and north wall was reclaimed from demolished houses on the estate.
More residential architecture on Dezeen »
The following information is from the architects:
TY PREN, Trallong, South Wales
Situated in the midst of the Brecon Beacons, this linear Greenfield site in the village of Trallong has a southerly aspect and fine views towards Pen Y Fan. The rich local vernacular inspired the concept of a modern ‘long house’, following the contours of the land, embedding itself in the slope of the hill and responding to the prevailing conditions.
We spent two years researching and developing this design through site visits, models and prototypes. The design evolved into a crisp extrusion using skilled craftsmen to deliver a high-tech building. This period was used to procure local materials, research and to develop our Welsh vernacular adaptation. The typology of the long house leant itself to a passive solar plan, enhanced by the topography and aspect of the site.
Contemporary construction techniques have delivered a thoroughly modern and high performance building, which responds to the landscape. The design was environmentally driven throughout. The passive solar design strategy uses every natural energy source available, and supplements these with active features such as the log boiler.
Project History/ Background
Ty Pren was first conceived in 2005 by our clients, Gavin and Vina Hogg, committed environmentalists responsible for managing the Penpont Estate (recently awarded the Forestry Commission’s ‘Wales Business and Sustainability’ award), with the desire to create a uniquely environmental building drawing strongly from the welsh vernacular.
They placed their faith in Feilden Fowles, a young design team straight out of Part 1 and embarking on our first major project. This precedent of mutual trust and good will underpinned by a shared commitment to sustainability and green design, was shown by the entire design and construction team. This enabled the delivery of an exceptional building, small in scale but with huge ambitions.
The client, acting as a construction manager, had an holistic environmental approach that facilitated the efficient delivery of a sustainable building within a tight budget, and ensured both the design and its delivery remained under continued scrutiny. The embodied energy of materials was under constant review and often took precedent over cost.
Design Approach
Due to the particularly sensitive location, situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park, discussions on the vernacular were numerous throughout the early stages of design. Phrases like ‘sense of space’ and ‘local identity’ are abundant in the current debate regarding Welsh Architecture. Mathew Griffith’s suggested in ‘About Wales’ that ‘…the concept of ‘place’ is located at the heart of a fresh way of doing things. We need to be more effective in defining both the character of places and the value and significance that people attach to them…’
The real strength and identity of the Welsh culture is found in their simple plain chapels and vernacular buildings embedded in the counrtyside, gradually added to and elaborated. We were keen to take reference from these while avoiding simply reproducing an explicit version of the historic vernacular, an approach that would devalue the original. Instead we hoped to reinterpret, not necessarily by imitating historic details or using authentic materials, but through a subtle reinterpretation of familiar forms and ideas coupled with an holistic approach to environmental sustainabilty.
Passive Solar Design
Analysis of the seasonal sun paths determined the building’s location in order to maximise solar gain, views over the valley, and provide a south-facing garden to grow produce. The radical design was backed by a forward-looking planning department, who recognised the potential for the building to set a precedent for future sustainable housing. The compact design is 20m long and 6m deep, forming a sealed box that opens to the south and selectively frames the northern views. Internally, the building is less than 6m deep, enabling natural light and optimal cross and stack ventilation throughout.
The 1 m deep north wall creates a buffer that runs the length of building and accommodates the services, stairs, storage and en-suite bathrooms. The south facing elevation and fenestration use optimal proportions of glazing; approximately 30% of the south elevation is glazed compared with about 5% of the northern elevation. Deep window reveals and sliding shutters prevent excessive solar gain in the summer, while the flush north windows emphasise the building’s clean form. All these measures are designed to maximise solar gain in the winter and minimise overheating during the summer.
Active Design Features
From the outset, we collaborated with “Green Earth Energy” environmental engineers who helped design and fit the services. Over £25,000 was invested in green technologies; nearly 10% of the overall budget, with a further £20,000 on high performance Danish windows. The active heating strategy combines hot water from the 8KW log boiler and the solar collectors in a 500 litre accumulator tank located in the north wall.
The collectors supply all domestic hot water needs and supplement the under floor heating system. A Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system efficiently ventilates every space during the winter months. A Klargestor Biodisk operates as a sealed ‘waste water processing plant’ in the garden.
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Materials
Ty Pren translates literally as ‘House of Wood’, as timber drove the design strategy throughout. The building was clad in larch, sourced and felled from the client’s estate 2 miles away, and subsequently milled on site. The untreated cladding has a predicted life of 25 years, 8 larch trees have been planted on the client’s estate to replace this when necessary. The removed cladding will be burnt to heat the house. Recycled welsh slates from derelict buildings on the estate wrap over the roof and down the exposed north wall.
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The east, south and west ‘Solar Elevations’ incorporate a more filigree larch skin. The use of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) coupled with the high performing windows has resulted in a super airtight building. Secondary insulation (Thermafleece) made from a sheep’s wool blend was used to reach a U-Value of 0.15W/m2K in the walls. Internally, locally sourced oak was used on the fit-out, and the entire north wall constructed from sustainably sourced birch faced plywood. Lime based plasters and paints from Ty Mawr lime were used throughout. These natural materials are non-toxic and have a low embodied energy.
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Exterior
The low embodied energy, flexibility and character of larch lent itself perfectly to this environmental house; particularly given that the client, an arboriculturalist, was able to source much of the timber from within his woodlands. The larch was felled just two miles away and sawn on site with a mobile sawmill. It was fitted green in order to naturally weather to a silver-grey, complementing the moorland backdrop. New trees were planted within the client’s woodland when the original cladding was felled, starting a rolling 25-year timber life cycle. The discarded cladding will then be burnt to heat the house, harnessing the last of its energy.
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The solar facades include deep-set window reveals that prevent excessive solar gain, while sliding shutters avoid overheating to the first floor spaces. The larch was sawn into chamfered battens, mounted 10 mm apart and set out on 100 mm vertical studs. This improves ventilation, produces a filigree appearance to the rain screen cladding and incorporates flush eaves details that emphasise the crisp ‘long house’ typology. Larch boards are inserted into the window reveals, covering the window frames and highlighting the punched openings.
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Interior
The plan is modernist in its simplicity, set out on a 1.2 m grid, driven by the standard SIP panel and sheet material size. The continuous birch-faced ply north wall incorporates all the services and utilities, including bathrooms, stair, pantry, storage and solar thermal store. This wall is articulated by home-grown oak studs with shadow gaps running along the datum lines of the house.
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The pop fit doors deliver a seamless and subtle wall, structuring the space. The stair is recessed into the depth of the back wall, emerging on the viewing gallery with direct views north, west, east and framing Pen Y Fan to the south. Welsh oak floorboards run the length of the upper gallery and throughout the lower ground floor expressing, the linear design.
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Performance
We achieved a SAP rating of 79 and Dwelling CO2 emissions rate 5.5KgCO2/m2/ year – six times more efficient than the government’s target emissions rate for a home of this size. Overall, this 175m2 house produces 968.9kg of carbon annually. Further testing is intended. With a small amount of energy generation on site, this home has the potential to be zero carbon. The logs for heating the house are already produced on the client’s estate. Unfortunately however, the ratings do not account for sustainable timber fuel.
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The dwelling has been occupied for one year now and initial user feedback has been excellent. The building only requires active heating throughout 2 months of the year, and sustains internal temperatures through passive solar heating in the shoulder seasons. We intend to carry out further detailed analysis to determine if the performance meets the projections. A BREEAM assessment is due to be carried out in the Autumn.
Ty Pren is an exceptionally sustainable house, which came about through the close collaboration of the client, design team and contractors to deliver a uniquely local and sustainable building. The intention has been to push the environmental debate surrounding green homes and will hopefully set a precedent of excellence for future developments in Welsh housing.
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