Barking Civic Hall has had a chequered history with long periods of under use and notoriety when the Boxing Promoter Frank Warren was shot on the steps of the hall, after leaving a boxing match at the Hall in 1989.

New life has been made possible through an innovative partnership between the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham and Barking College that combines teaching space for the performing arts with a community theatre and music venue. The Project was the first public building to form part of the Thames Gateway Development for East London and is an important landmark within Barking Town Centre.

Our strategy to make better use of the hall included the insertion of a new hanging balcony structure and bleacher seating that enables a number of different stagings for drama and music events to take place within the same space. A new home was formed for the Performing Arts department of Barking College by re-arranging redundant areas of the lower ground floor to create rehearsal and dance studios, a recording studio and workshops.

A new extension provides new facilities that were not possible to fit within the existing building; a large double-height foyer with a box office, wheelchair accessible lift, toilets, offices and a terrace overlooking the Barking Abbey grounds. The new foyer is naturally ventilated through a new light well built around the original Civic Hall facade, with brickwork that matches the colour, dimensions and pattern of the original building.