Corby Cube

  • RBA Client:Hawkins\Brown
  • Contractor:Galliford Try plc
  • Architect:Hawkins\Brown
  • Project Value:£30 million
    • Start Date:
  • June 2006
  • Completion Date:September 2010

With over 2,050 panes of glass and 15,500 tonnes of concrete, the Corby Cube is a major part of the larger regeneration of Parkland Gateway in Northamptonshire which also includes the Corby East Midlands International Pool. The building forms the civic heart of the town, encompassing the majority of local council services and providing a hub for cultural and leisure activity.

RBA Acoustics were appointed by Hawkins\Brown to provide the scope of acoustic services. The brief specified that the building would need to be able to hold multiple events and functions simultaneously. The location of The Core, a stunning walnut clad 450-seat flexible theatre with two balcony levels (which is located under the main council chamber) provided the main acoustic design issue. This required not only a complex room acoustic design but high levels of sound insulation.

With the exception of the theatre, all areas of the building make use of the thermal mass of the exposed concrete and are naturally ventilated. As The Cube is located on a major route into the town centre, the control of road traffic noise was a priority which required innovative thinking to achieve satisfactory noise levels. The development of such measures included providing the client with demonstrations of audio throughout the building including speech intelligibility and musical quality in the theatre as well as traffic noise break-in to the council chamber.

The Cube opened in November 2010 to great acclaim, achieving a BREEAM rating of ’Excellent’ - the only theatre in the UK to be awarded this. It was also runner up to the Beijing Olympic Swimming Pool in the prestigious LEAF Awards for Best Public Design Building of the Year.