Royal & Derngate

Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre and the Derngate Theatre. The Royal Theatre, established as a producing house, has a capacity of 583 seats and since 1976 has been designated a Grade II listed building; the Derngate Theatre seats a maximum of 1,200 and is a multi-purpose space in which the auditorium can be configured for a variety of events including theatre, opera, live music, dance, fashion and sports. The Errol Flynn Filmhouse, an independent cinema built to the side of the complex, opened in 2013.

The Royal was built by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps and opened in 1884. Ninety-nine years later in 1983, the Derngate, designed by RHWL, was built to the rear of the Royal. Whilst the two theatres were physically linked, they only formally merged as one combined organisation in 1999, run by the Northampton Theatres Trust. In 2005, both theatres closed for an 18-month £14.5m redevelopment, which saw the merging of both venues into one construction, the building of a creativity centre, and the total refurbishment of the two venues. The complex reopened as Royal & Derngate in October 2006. From its reopening, Laurie Sansom was Artistic Director; under his tenure, The Stage hailed Royal & Derngate as The Regional Theatre of the Year (2010) in its inaugural Stage 100 Awards for "its artistic quality and connections it has with local audiences."James Dacre took over as Artistic Director in 2013.

Cultural Quarter, Northampton

The Cultural Quarter of the town Northampton, England, is in the centre of the town. It is sometimes referred to as Derngate, which was the name of a gate in the old town walls located there.

The quarter was officially launched by Northampton Borough Council in early 2013. It is noted in particular for Northampton Museum, theatre complex Royal & Derngate, historic house 78 Derngate, Art Gallery NN and the Errol Flynn Filmhouse. It also has bars, restaurants, pubs, hair salons and fashion shops as well as housing and offices. Northampton High School for Girls was located here before moving to Hardingstone and the area developed for housing.

78 Derngate

78 Derngate is a Grade II* Listed Georgian house, noted for its interior, which was extensively redeveloped in 1916-7 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for local businessman and modelmaker, Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke. It has been open to the public since 2003.

Errol Flynn Filmhouse

The Errol Flynn Filmhouse opened in June 2013, named after actor Errol Flynn, who worked at Northampton's Royal Theatre in his early career. The 88-seat venue, in Albion Place, is part of the Royal & Derngate theatre complex. It screens art-house, world films and documentaries alongside some mainstream films. The development was part of the Northampton Alive regeneration project.

78 Derngate

78 Derngate is a Grade II* listed Georgian house in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, originally built in 1815. It is noted for its interior, which was extensively remodelled in 1916 and 1917 by noted architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh for businessman Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke as his first marital home.

The rear elevation also features a striking extension with two elevated balconies which, in 1916, overlooked meadowland to the edge of Northampton. The design origins of this extension have been the subject of some scholarly debate and a myth of Mackintosh as a modernist pioneer in his late career has persisted. However, recent research suggests that Bassett-Lowke and Alexander Ellis Anderson (a Northampton-based architect who supervised the remodelling) may also have had a hand in the design of this structure as well as Mackintosh.

In 1926 the Bassett Lowkes moved to New Ways, a pioneering modernist house designed by Peter Behrens close to Abington Park.

Between 1964 and 1993 the building was used by Northampton High School for girls, initially as offices but later as classrooms. In 2002 work started to restore the house to Mackintosh's original design. This work was under the direction of architects John McAslan + Partners and involved a team of specialist contractors for expert restoration, or replication of, the original features of the Mackintosh period scheme.