As the third week of January sets in (admittedly in fairly freezing style), the builders are handing back the Lower Hall and surrounding areas to us, and staff are moving down to the temporary offices we’ve set up for 2015.

We’re losing space at the centre of the building whilst the major works start there, in order to re-level the floors, put in a large lift, build new offices in the second floor attics, and create an exciting outdoor performance space in the enlarged courtyard, amongst many other items.

We’ve subdivided the Lower Hall itself to provide offices for our staff and a workshop space for artists, Homegrown, Beatbox Academy, and others.

We’ve invested in new IP phones to cut down on the huge amount of cabling that has plagued our offices…

For the first time, the Lower Hall has double glazing and acoustic treatment to cut down on noise escaping the space.

We can now see beautiful original features like the glazed mosaic floor and Victorian glazed tiling which has been covered for decades.

And this morning, staff moved into the temporary office for the first time.