PAD (Performance. Architecture. Design) Big Build Day at the Royal Albert Hall

Launched at the end of 2023, PAD (Performance. Architecture. Design) was an immersive, hands-on creative experience, designed to introduce young people to the interdisciplinary creative industries of dance, music, performance, architecture, and design. The programme brought together the Hall’s four Associate Artists and over 120 Key Stage 3 students (12-14 year olds) from across eight London schools.

Students learned how architecture and design influence performance by designing their own performance installation inspired by a Royal Albert Hall Associate Artist. The Royal Albert Hall Associate Artists are choreographer and filmmaker Corey Baker, saxophone player and presenter Jess Gillam, organist, and conductor Anna Lapwood, and spoken-word performer LionHeart.

Over a series of 4 in school workshops – for a total of 32 workshops across the programme ­– led by Urban Learners (who partner with Grimshaw Foundation on the development of education programmes), students took on the role of ‘designer’, researching and interviewing their artists in order to come up with a unique design brief for their installation, and collaboratively developing their installation designs.

In June 2024, the six-month programme culminated in a Big Build Day taking place at the Royal Albert Hall. The 8 designs were built and installed by the schools in the Gallery of the Royal Albert Hall, bringing the programme – the understanding of performance, architecture, and design – to life.

Each installation transformed the same material toolkit with an immense collaborative effort between all students, teachers and volunteers from across the creative industries.

The Build, and the programme, would not have been possible without the collaborative effort between the students and over 80 volunteers from across the creative industries, who also opened up the students to the wider variety of creative careers and experiences they can consider for their own futures.

Hear more about the programe from the Associate Artists and see images of the final builds below.