Focus: Brunel Museum


An entrance to a Brunel pedestrian tunnel under the Thames has reopened as a modern and active space Close to Rotherhithe Overground station in south-east London, you can now step down 7m in to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s first-ever project… one where he nearly drowned but one that was the world’s first underground theatre.


Words by David Tarypey

The Grand Entrance Hall was the first part of a pedestrian tunnel under the Thames to Wapping, used by workmen digging the Thames Tunnel between 1825 and 1843. It was then the first tunnel known to have been constructed successfully under a navigable river. For about 20 years the tunnel was used as a performance space that featured acrobats and tight-rope walkers. And there were market stalls.

But then its many alcoves began to lure those of disrepute and with the coming of the trains underneath it, it was blocked off. It existed as a ventilation shaft during the steam-engine times, but when the Luftwaffe tried to bomb the railway tunnel beneath, a concrete lid was put across it during the Second World War. More recently, TfL installed a 0.5m-thick concrete slab across its foundation to create a firm flooring and as a buffer to muffle the rumbling trains down below.

Victorian portrayals of the Grand Entrance Hall. Photo: Brunel MuseumVictorian portrayals of the Grand Entrance Hall. Photo: Brunel Museum

So has emerged a space, about half the size of The Globe theatre, able to safely house 110 people and open as both a museum with gallery during the day and a performance space in the evenings. This scheduled ancient monument sports a short temperature variation of between 10C and 15C and since opening in March has hosted pop-up opera, weddings, bands and even Shakespeare. All the links to the Horror Channel are filmed down here and, with a future planned spring floor, there are whisperings of contemporary dance.

The Brunel Museum had operated the Engine Room on ground level for 25 years but in 2013, it contacted the architecture practice Tate Harmer to initiate the first phase to allow public access to the vast sinking shaft. The process was largely financed by a National Heritage Landmarks Partnership Scheme, grants from Biffa Award and the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), together with generous donations from London Borough of Southwark and Transport for London.

The pedestrian tunnel. Photo: Brunel Museum The pedestrian tunnel. Photo: Brunel Museum

Jerry Tate, partner at Tate Harmer tells FX: ‘During a long debate with Brunel Museum, the brief evolved from just opening up the previous Hobbit-hole type door for access to creating a performance space and gallery in the Grand Entrance Hall. But it was decided to keep everything as raw as possible. So, for instance, the 1.8m thick walls are bare Flemish bond brickwork from the 1800s where you can see the ghost of the original staircase with the old chiselled-out holes and there are lots of soot stains from a century of smoke from steam trains. There’s even the remnants of Luftwaffe bomb damage on the north side of the shaft.’

A modest entrance to a spectacular and historic space, owned by the Brunel Museum. Photo: Jack HobhouseA modest entrance to a spectacular and historic space, owned by the Brunel Museum. Photo: Jack Hobhouse

Liaising with a range of parties including the local Southwark Council, the Environment Agency, Historic England, the London Fire Brigade and TfL, Tate & Harmer cut a 1.5m x 2m-high flood-proof (it’s below the springtide flood level of the Thames) door and installed a new freestanding, elegant, cantilevered 10 tonne staircase with underlit handrails. A platform at the top allows two to three wheelchairs, though the second phase will install a lift shaft for access for those with disabilities to the floor 7m below.

Sketch shows the entrance hall’s new staircase, with trains underneath. Photo: Jack HobhouseSketch shows the entrance hall’s new staircase, with trains underneath. Photo: Jack Hobhouse

Jerry Tate explains: ‘The staircase is a bit of the 21st century that pokes in to this raw, historic space with its theatrical lighting and bright pillar-box red handrail. It has even been incorporated in to a recent Shakespeare performance. Otherwise, its dark-grey stairs recede into the darkness and allows you to feel what it’s like to be stood in this extraordinary place. It’s very powerful. The space has to be very flexible, and while it provides cat 5, the performers bring their own lighting.’

And if the daytime gallery and night-time shows aren’t enough, up near the lid of the shaft on ground level there is also a Saturday cocktail bar called Midnight Apothecary.








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