Journal of Architectural Conservation
Volume 13, Issue 3, November 2007
The Apollo Victoria Theatre
Conservation Against the Clock
John Earl and John Muir
Paper Summary
The Apollo Victoria Theatre is an architecturally outstanding work of its time. With a seating capacity of 2,572, it has been in recent years one of the most successful musical houses in the West End of London, but its original architectural and decorative character had become severely eroded over the years. This paper describes how conditions peculiar to theatre work dictated that major restoration works, from confirmation of instructions, through detailed planning to execution, had to be completed within a rigidly defined period of sixteen weeks, allowing no scope for overruns or failure to deliver.
John Earl FSA, MRICS, IHBC, FRSA
John Earl, author of Building Conservation Philosophy (Donhead 2003), worked from 1956 to 1986 with the LCC’s, later Greater London Council’s, historic buildings division and later became director of a statutory body, the Theatres Trust, retiring in 1995. He is now a conservation consultant working exclusively on historic theatres.
John Muir RIBA FRSA
John Muir has worked as an architect in private practice since1964 and for the last 25 years has specialized in theatre work, primarily in the commercial sector. He served as a trustee of the Theatres Trust from 1995 to 2004.
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