Our project team at 338 Euston Road lent their skills and expertise to British Land’s community outreach programme and spearheaded the recent makeover of the New Diorama Theatre (NDT) in Camden.

NDT moved to their current premises within British Land’s Triton Square development a number of years ago. After meeting with the theatre, it was clear it had become a victim of its own success. Back of house areas had become tired over time and despite its efforts to decorate walls with posters of Zac Efron, there was only so much his good looks could do. The green room was underutilised and office space had become cramped with poor quality lighting, heating/cooling and power provision. The theatre also found itself struggling to find storage space for equipment and promotional materials.

In stepped our team led by trainee Project and Commercial Managers, Rory Gillespie and Harrison McCulloch, who worked with the theatre to come up with a cost-effective package of improvements that would address their most pressing challenges. Both Rory and Harrison engaged our supply chain partners ADS Joinery, Impact Building Services, Maze Engineering, T. Callaghan Decorating Services and Supagold, who were already working at 338 Euston Road, to support the project. With their generosity, time and expertise they were able to provide a significant increase in the amount of storage space available and dramatic improvements to the functionality of the back of house spaces over a period of five days.

As a result of our teams’ combined efforts, the once cramped office space is now light and airy after receiving a lick of paint, new lighting and desk power modules. The ventilation system has been modified to provide additional cooling. The dressing room benefits from new lighting and bespoke mirrors and the green room now has ample space for production crews to sit and have a cuppa with a new kitchen worktop, shelving and bench seating with storage.

Overjoyed with the makeover, theatre staff have an improved sense of well-being and admiration for the refreshed space.

“The work that Parkeray have done to our backstage spaces and office has been totally game-changing. With the long hours we work in theatre, the office had become a very oppressive and unpleasant space to work in, and the backstage areas were so grimy and practically unusable for our theatre companies and artists. Our main requests were to tackle our massive storage issues and improve the overall lighting and working environment– Parkeray’s efforts have exceeded all our initial expectations. We could not be more delighted with the outcome, and the response from community partners and artists has been a testament to the difference it’s made to those who work with us. We cannot thank them enough!”

Sophie Wallis, Executive Producer, New Diorama Theatre