Jellyfish Theatre
location : Marlborough Playground, Union Street, London
complete year : 2010
usage : temporary theatre
gross floor area : 1600m2
structure : steel scaffolding, used wooden pallets, kitchen units, other reclaimed materials
architect : Folke Kobberling and Martin Kaltwasser
contractor : voluntary labour
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During the London Festival of Architecture in 2010 the theatre group The Red Room and The Architecture Foundation planned to build a temporary stage to host 2 prize-winning plays at this square in Southwalk, London.
The German architects Koebberling & Kaltwasser collaborated with local volunteers and came up with the idea that the structure should be constructed mainly out of 'junk' - This meaning collected and reused materials; old theatre seats, leftover timber pieces from construction sites, out of use pallets and old kitchen elements that locals could bring in. The architectural office is known for making use of wasted timber for interesting large buildings, sculptures and installations, a practice that has been nicknamed 'junkitecture'. Jellyfish Theatre existed and was open for about 2 months, July-August 2010.
SE was asked to assess the stability of the structure and suggest improvements for the structural frame. We started doing an analysis if the potential wind loads on site and added it to the loads from the structure itself. Further stability could be achieved by using standard pieces of scaffolding, a mesh of steel pipes supporting the walls and the roof that would primarily be made from pallets. This way we introduced a light structural core to the bulding's 'shell' that would not overshadow the materiality of the reused elements.
The scaffolding structure was erected by a specialized contractor, but the cladding was added by various artists and the theatre's own volunteers.
