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Transforming the Albany

We are planning a capital project to refurbish and redevelop our building.

A photograph of the Albany building from Douglas Way. It is a squat, red brick building with posters along the walls and pink flags above the entrance.

We are planning a capital project to refurbish and redevelop our building, to ensure its survival for future generations of audiences, visitors, artists and residents.

We aim to use a mixture of refurbishment and new building to retain what is special about the Albany, whilst improving performance, production, creative enterprise and community spaces; many of which are deteriorating and have not had any real work done to them since the building opened in 1981.

The new building will be more sustainable, accessible, and welcoming for visitors. The development will also include housing on site which will fund a considerable proportion of the Albany’s building costs.

We have been working with RIBA award-winning architects, Witherford Watson Mann, as well as Stories, a socially responsible property development company and a B Corp, to develop plans for the project.

We will undertake full consultation with our local communities, residents, and stakeholders in due time, so that as many people as possible have the chance to feed into what they would like to see from their new local arts centre building. We are still at an early stage, and timelines are subject to change, however currently we expect consultation to begin towards the end of 2025, with building work starting in 2028 at the earliest.

A black and white photograph of Princess Diana having just stepped out of a car at the entrance to the Albany. Behind her there is a crowd watching on.

Our History

The Albany through the ages

Find out more about our history