The Lark Theatre, Balbriggan, the 2024 RIAI Public Choice Award winner, designed by Stephen Foley Architects + CAMPUS and built by Vision Contracting for the Irish Institute of Music and Song (IIMS), balances artistic excellence with sustainability and historical context.
The Lark Theatre and Concert Hall in Balbriggan, a 2024 RIAI Public Choice Award winner, is a 400-seat venue built by Vision Contracting for the Irish Institute of Music and Song. Designed by Stephen Foley Architects, the delivery of this state-of-the-art facility exemplifies collaboration between the client, contractor, architect, engineers and supply chain.
The site, a tight, live campus located within a residential and business community, required timed truck movements to minimise disruption. The facility uses renewable energy as much as possible.
The client’s brief was clear that the new concert hall was not to increase the IIMS’s carbon footprint. This was achieved through collaborative and innovative design with measures that include advanced lighting control strategies, LED lighting throughout the building, a building automation and control system (BACS) integrated into electrical infrastructure, roof heat pumps, strategically placed heat recovery units and rainwater harvesting.
Designed by Stephen Foley Architects for Michael Dawson and the Irish Institute of Music and Song (IIMS), the Lark Theatre seamlessly integrates into a historic campus, repurposing and refurbishing a 1960s nursing home on site for backstage facilities, music classrooms, offices, plant and electrical rooms.
The project team had to consider the adjacent historic Bedford House (1750), a Georgian-era home, and the Victorian Bedford Hall (1830). These buildings and on-site cottages have served as the town’s nursing home since the 1960s. The theatre is directly connected to Bedford House, which provides guest accommodation.
The 400-seat auditorium offers a versatile space for performances ranging from orchestral concerts to intimate solo shows. The building’s striking design features a pleated concrete and granite facade, harmoniously blending into the campus.
Committed to sustainability, the theatre boasts an A3-BER certification and employs eco-friendly features such as rainwater harvesting, air-to-water heat pumps, and energy-efficient lighting. The project team optimised construction efficiency and minimised waste using BIM, 3D modelling, off-site manufacturing, and Lean principles.
Design approach
Stephen Foley Architects’ design breaks up the theatre’s 21x21x12 metre cubed form with a series of pleated concrete granite-clad walls and a multi-pitched roof sloping from 11 metres down to 9 metres.
To achieve the necessary auditorium reverberation, the hall’s roof was set as high as possible and drops at the building’s edge, responding to the scale of the surrounding streets. The hall’s ceiling is pleated to reflect the sound to the back of the audience, and grooved acoustic panelling is used for diffusion.
This sets up the project’s leitmotif as pleats are used to make up the elevations, breaking up the volume clad in granite slabs. Inside the building, the angled façade helps reflect sound around the music classrooms located on the western side elevation. These spaces have tall windows, bringing light deep into the plan.
The second-floor rehearsal space expresses the shape of the roof and has an opening looking back into the hall with acoustic curtains connecting the two spaces. The lobby and reception area are on the north elevation, set back from the street.
The windows on this façade are more expansive, and the view is framed from the vertical circulation. Visitors are brought to a balcony which looks through a two-storey window towards the centre of the town on the way up to their seats and given a view towards the sea through a large picture window as they leave the performance space.
The auditorium
The architect and the acoustic engineer, AWN Consulting, collaborated to design the auditorium with optimised sound reverberation. Bespoke sound-diffusing treatments and a variable acoustic system ensure optimal sound quality. Automated lighting and a flexible stage system enhance performance capabilities.
All internal surfaces were optimised for sound reverberation, featuring bespoke sound-diffusing treatments, including high-quality individually splayed oak panels and low-frequency treatments on the upper walls and ceilings. A variable acoustic system allows acoustic banners to be deployed to reduce reverberation as needed.
The auditorium’s lighting, controlled by a Dali-DMX system, is fully automated and integrated with the IT network, allowing synchronised sound and lighting during performances. The stage area includes an automated lift system with dual spiral drives, adjustable in height and surface area, housed within a Grade 3 in-situ concrete basement.
The auditorium is directly linked to a ‘plug & play’ live broadcast and recording studio within the building, enabling media platforms to simply plug outside broadcast vehicles into the building.
A ventilation system includes a fresh-air air handling unit (AHU) incorporating variable speed drive (VSD) fans, thermal wheel heat recovery, and an internal heat pump. This system provides fresh, filtered air, maintains good air quality, and reduces energy use by recovering heat from extracted air and adjusting fan speeds based on demand.
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) further enhances energy savings by providing fresh air to each seat without increasing the heating load.
LED lighting, equipped with occupancy and daylight sensors, ensures that lights are only on when needed and when natural light is insufficient.
Budgetary control
Vision Contracting construction director Mick Allen explains that there was an increase of €1.6M between the initial budget of €9.2M and the final budget of €10.8M. He comments: “This had been expected as the specifications for the building had not been finalised when we came on board under the ECI programme. Our expertise and experience in managing complex construction programmes minimised the risk from new specifications and contained the impact of massive materials cost inflation.”
Construction solutions
The build was logistically challenging having to facilitate the client’s live educational campus. This prompted the use of off-site construction with precast cores and extensive light gauge Kingspan RMG600 metal decking on a structural steel frame.
Vision Contracting project manager John Healy points out that the works programme within a live campus required careful planning and coordination to minimise disruption while limited space for material storage necessitated careful delivery scheduling and off-site manufacturing.
“The works programme within the active campus environment required careful planning and coordination to minimise disruption to daily operations. The limited space available for storing materials necessitated a well-defined delivery schedule and a focus on off-site manufacturing whenever feasible,” John Healy says.
He continues: “We utilised precast cores and metal decking to minimise disruption on the live campus. We used bottom-driven mini-piles for the groundworks to protect surrounding structures and reduce noise. The site limitations also resulted in the use of integrated secant-piled soil retaining structures to support the adjacent historic building.”
Sustainability
The Lark Concert Hall boasts strong sustainability credentials, achieving an A3-BER rating. It incorporates a range of low- and zero-carbon features.
During ECI, a decision was made to locate plant, communications and switch room within the existing rear annexe building instead of the basement, thus significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the new building. Using the 2023 RICS Methodology, the carbon saving for these service rooms (50sq m) alone was 37,500 kg CO2.
Concrete supplied by O’Reilly Concrete utilised up to 30% GGBS. The supplier recycles all water used in production, offsetting their carbon production by planting trees.
The steel framing system used inside the auditorium was manufactured by Steel Formed Sections, a Monaghan-based manufacturer that employs certified sustainable and clean production processes.
A rainwater harvesting system collects runoff from the roof, filters it, and uses it for toilet flushing and other non-potable needs.
The Lark’s success hinged on achieving a high-performance building envelope. Through the use of BIM and with insulation incorporated off-site in most cases, an A3 BER certification was achieved with the following u-values:
– External walls U-value: .18W/m2K
– Precast ground floors U-value: .15W/ m2K
– Roof U-value: .16W/m2K
– Doors U-value: 1.6 W/m2K
– Main Entrance doors U-value: 1.6W/ m2K
– High-performance double-glazed curtain wall windows, U-value: 1.2W/ m2K
– Air permeability 50 Pa: 4.6 m3/(hm2) – Primary space & water heating from air to water heat pumps with gas boiler backup
Health & Safety
Vision Contacting is meticulous in managing on-site health and safety on all projects. For the Lark, comprehensive PSCS Plans and Risk Assessments were completed before work commenced, identifying hazards and implementing control measures. This was carried out using the company’s ISO Certified Management Systems (14001, 45001). Vision also used lean practices and criteria to manage on-site safety.
Pedestrian and traffic management plans were in place for the adjacent live campus, and Vision Contracting engaged with the local community, facilitating site visits. Vision Contracting’s EHS Manager Glen Cowley explains: “All subcontractors provided detailed Safe Work Method Statements and Risk Assessments for their work elements. Our EHS team coordinated all people movements and access/egress on site and ensured hazards were identified and requisite actions were taken.
“We take H&S monitoring on site very seriously. Every subcontractor was inducted and signed in before accessing the site. Any EHS team observations were digitally recorded and shared with relevant persons. This improved efficiency and ensured excellent safety performance with no time-lost incidents recorded.”
Within the auditorium, a specialist scaffolding firm designed and installed a safe platform system for installing brackets, acoustic panels, trusses, and lighting systems. Vision Contracting’s commitment to safety resulted in a project with zero lost-time incidents. Regular safety audits, toolbox talks, and site walk-throughs ensured adherence to safe work practices.
In conclusion
In June of 2024. The Lark topped the poll in the ‘Public Choice’ category of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Irish Architecture Awards. Organisers said the overwhelming support for the project reflects its outstanding contribution to the built environment and its resonance with the community.
The client, Michael Dawson, comments on the project: “The Lark is a significant milestone for the town of Balbriggan, embodying an ambitious vision that required a contractor capable of overseeing its entire development. Vision Contracting not only grasped our vision but exceeded our expectations in constructing The Lark.
“The entire project was executed in a very restricted area without generating a single complaint from the surrounding neighbours living in close proximity, despite the necessity for driving piles.
“The Lark is a testament to the power of collaboration,” commented Mick Allen, Construction Director, Vision Contracting. “By working closely with the client and all stakeholders, including site visits to leading UK venues, we delivered a state-of-the-art concert hall. This project exemplifies the value of strong partnerships, and I am incredibly proud of the team’s contribution to this exceptional venue for the people of Balbriggan.”