Venue
The Leonardian Centre is a technologically contemporary venue with a seating capacity of up to 600. The auditorium has flexible acoustic technology and has been carefully designed to accommodate multiple performance types, hosting both theatrical and musical performances.
The auditorium has the traditional shoebox shape that acoustic experts worldwide agree is the most successful model, and the 3D patterns on the walls optimise the acoustics.
The venue offers a brand new, concert sized, hand selected, Steinway D grand piano.
The Leonardian Centre features a small outdoor stage which caters to intimate outdoor performances and a screen located directly above it which can telecast events happening within the Leonardian Centre. This outdoor stage overlooks the stunning agora which is approximately 30 metres in diameter.
The venue is complemented by a half fly tower housing a professional rigging system for curtains, lights and scenery, along with an acoustic control room and orchestra pit. The stage and seating are fully accessible for performers or guests with disabilities or limited mobility.
Venue Design Inspiration
The Leonardian Centre’s design concept started with Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The architects imagined unrolling the Globe circle into an S and wrapping it around a box-shaped auditorium. Some corners of the auditorium poked out, unwrapped. Finally they sliced away sections of the Globe wrapping, leaving large vertical faces. They then filled these with vast windows that offer views of the picturesque St Leonard’s College campus. ARM also chose the Globe because the shape of its gabled roof is similar to that of Harefield House, the 1890 building that is central to the St Leonard’s College campus character.