In this section
Bamber Legacy Project
Planning approved
Scaffolding has gone up and steel fabricators are on standby
Just £175k to reach the £2m goal
Please help dent that £175k . . . with a teaspoon or a club
Bamber’s catchphrases
- A Golden Heart £50k (naming a new dressing room)
- Fingers on buzzers £20k
- Your starter for ten £10k
- I’ll have to hurry you £5k
- University Challengers £1k-£5k
- No conferring other amounts – we are grateful for all contributions
Pledges may be paid over three years.
The timetable
We have received planning permission for the Dressing Rooms & Treetop Studio and plan to start building in September. Bamber cared about people and their talent and what better way to commemorate a man with a golden heart?
Architect David Lloyd Jones has been key to designing opera houses for Grange Park Opera since its inception in 1998. And everyone knows that Martin Smith was the man behind the miracle: building the opera house in just 11 months.
Why?
The highly-acclaimed opera house has excellent acoustics, providing an exceptional venue for the audience. There are, however, backstage constraints for close to 200 people working in the building. We need more dressing rooms, lavatories, showers, and space for the wardrobe department (500+ costumes . . . not to mention shoes).
Bamber’s Legacy Project will add two additional storeys (indicated by the red line in the drawing below) to the existing dressing rooms.
The fourth floor Treetop Studio will be used year-round by the 6,000 Primary Robins, by Young Artists, and as a dance studio. Two small roof terraces will look out over the 350 acre estate.
Existing north-east view showing two floors of dressing rooms
North-east view showing three floors of dressing rooms and the Treetop Studio
The Bamber Bench
By sculptor Raphael Maklouf
Bamber’s bench is a bronze life-size casting by Raphael Maklouf, Bamber’s neighbour. Raphael has been a neighbour of the Gascoignes for more than half a century and is greatly looking forward to creating Bamber’s bench. He recently created a life-size sculpture of Shakespeare sitting on bench near the Globe Theatre, Southwark.
Heating / cooling and the brick bridge
As well as the bench, Bamber’s presence will be felt with the heating / cooling system. A new plant room will house an air source heat pump (ASHP), heat exchanger and fans, generating cooling in the summer and warm air for the opera house – enabling use beyond the summer.
Once complete, these works will enable the theatre’s scope and reach to be extended.
Beneath the willow near the dock door, Martin Smith will build a brick bridge. After the opera house and lavatorium were finished, he counted 8,160 unused bricks. He needs 1,000 for the east elevation of the dressing rooms, and 3,000 for the bridge. What shall we do with the rest?
Bamber Gascoigne Legacy Project supporters
Patrons
Christina Gascoigne
Joanna Lumley
Bryn Terfel
Wynne Evans
Lead Donors
Michael & Hilary Cowan
The Simon Freakley Treetop Studio, made possible by a gift of Jay Alix
A Golden Heart
Mark & Rosemary Carawan
Samantha & Nabil Chartouni
Mat & Sam Kirk
François Freyeisen & Shunichi Kubo
David & Amanda Leathers
Mr & Mrs Matthias Ruhland
Natasha Tsukanova
Sharp Foundation
Geoff & Fiona SquireColwinston Charitable Trust
and one anonymous donor
Fingers on Buzzers
Judith Lawless & Kevin Egan
The Ethos Foundation
Simon & Meg Freakley
Malcolm Herring
Wilhelm & Evelyn Jenckel
William & Felicity Mather
Tower Mint
Starter for 10
Tom & Alison Baigrie
Joanna & Stephen Barlow
Jonathan & Jane Clarke
Peter & Manina Dicks
Chris Carter & Stuart Donachie
Nick & Lesley Dumbreck
George Goulding
Jeremy Abram & Diane Kenwood
David & Clare Kershaw
Brian & Jennifer Ratner
John & Pit Rink
Hugh & Catherine Stevenson
Anthony & Carolyn Townsend
Hilary & Mike Wagstaff
Woodward Charitable Trust
and one anonymous donor
I’ll have to hurry you
Nan Brenninkmeyer
Paul Chivers
Aidan & Colette Clegg
Raymonde Jay
Peter & Poppity Nutting
Mike & Jessamy Reynolds
Sir John & Lady Sunderland
Andrew & Jane Sutton
Southampton Row Trust
Keith & Katy Weed
In memory of Sir Michael Parker
and one anonymous donor
University Challengers
Mr Anthony Ashplant
Dame Janet Baker CH
Margaret Bolam
Mrs Roger Bradley
Prof Martin Brown & Dr Sue Brown
Eleanor Cranmer & Nick Thomas
Iain & Kim Clark
Lisa Curtlin
John & Carrie Naunton Davies
Michael & Allie Eaton
David & Virginia Essex
The Fischer Fund
Angela & David Harvey
Lady Hunt & David John
David & Madi Laurence
Lady Lever
Susan & Ludi Lochner
Elizabeth & Martin Morgan
Mollie Norwich
Bill Bougourd & Judith Thomas
Carolyn Ward
Clare Williams
John & Linde Wotton
Anonymous
and four anonymous donors
No Conferring
Chris Baldwin-Christophersson
Valerie Booth
Susan Briant
Ms D C Briscoe
Lucy Butcher
Ellen Butterworth-Evans
Timothy & Judy Carter
Caroline Chichester-Clark
Jonathan & Jane Clarke
Ian & Fiona Codd
Dr Ian Collins
Bernard Davies
Sandra Dennis
Mrs Sarah Drury
Beryl Evans
Mr & Mrs Eves
Lucy Gampell OBE
The volunteer gardeners
Mrs Jane Gelardi
David & Jillian Gendron
Ms J Glasser
Cecile Gordon
Mr & Mrs Rod Graham
Chris & Margaret Handley
Mr & Mrs Joyce Harkness
Tatiana Harrison
Mr & Mrs Andrew Hayley Bell
Mrs Annabel L Hillary
P. Hoare
Peter & Marianne Hooley
The Hope Family
Clare Hoskins
Elisabeth Ingles
Mr Philip Jackson
Julian G Jones
Professor Heather Joshi CBE
Robin & Nick Kadrnka
Mr L Kennedy
Graham & Jane King
Gillian Kirk
David & Manuela Kleeman
Mr Paul Kozak
Julia Lamaison
Janey Langford
Mr & Mrs Gordon Lee-Steere
Carole & Tim Lipscombe
John & Annabel Lofthouse
Gabriella MacDonald
Angela Mackersie
Dr Francis Matthey & Dr Lydia Jones
Desmond & Clare McCann
Mr & Mrs McClung
J McNamara
Sarah & David Melville
William Middleton-Smith
Susan Munson
Kathy Mylrea
Michael de Navarro
On behalf of Mr and Mrs K O’Byrne
Sean Overend
Claire Owen
Elizabeth Parker
Mr & Mrs G. Pashley
Mr Richard Perkins
Dr Francis & Mrs Elizabeth Pocock
Nicholas & Melanie Purnell
Sir William & Lady Reardon Smith
Alexandra Roberts
Mr Anthony Robinson
Polly Morgan & Benjie del Rosario
Jack Rush
Jan Leigh & Janusz Rynkiewicz
Mr Alan Sainer
Anthony & Lorraine Samuels
Rosario Sgarioto
Phil & Kath Simmons
Alexander & Mole Smith
Marcus Jarvis & Tony Sparrow
Christopher & Tineke Stewart
Rebecca Stockland
Lauren at THE PEOPLE PILE
Gillian & John Thorpe
Peter & Tessa Watkins
John Woodruff
Tim & Wendy Woolsey
Toby & Judy Young
and 36 anonymous donors