Stepnell starting work this month on £116,000 programme of work at Lighthouse, Poole – the UK’s largest regional arts centre – as part of a multimillion pound refurbishment of the venue.
Stepnell has been appointed by Poole Arts Trust to create a new lobby between the cinema and studio theatre as well as convert a ground-floor room into a new staff room and duty manager’s office and introduce gates to the first-floor bar area. The work is scheduled for completion in September 2015.
The project forms part of a £5.3m refurbishment of the major cultural venue which will also include improvements to the Concert Hall, studio theatre and significant backstage refurbishments. Lighthouse is a centre of artistic excellence for live events, film and visual art in Poole and has an important role as a receiving venue for national and international theatre, dance, music, contemporary circus and film as well as being the home of the world-renowned Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Stepnell contracts manager Trevor Middleton says: “As a local firm, we’re thrilled to be working on this building which is rightly cherished by the community in Poole and Dorset as a world-class cultural venue. We’re absolutely delighted to be bringing our construction and sustainability expertise to this project, delivering significant improvements for visitors and staff and helping make the building more environmentally efficient.”
Lighthouse chief executive Elspeth McBain adds: “Lighthouse is delighted to have appointed Poole-based company Stepnell to undertake the first phase of building works this summer. This is the start of a series of improvements we are making to Lighthouse over the next 18 months and we are looking forward to seeing the results of Stepnell’s expertise.”
