We have announced the launch of a transformational Capital Programme to ensure that we are able to deliver increased activities for all our communities, to enhance lives and improve health through creativity. The Capital Programme will mean that our buildings and sites have improved accessibility for everyone, are financially sustainable and help us on our path to net zero carbon.

Following in the footsteps of our founders, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, and their passion to ensure that the arts were useful and available to everyone, the Capital Programme will mean that our existing buildings will be fit for purpose, efficient and help us to achieve our mission.

Highlights of the Capital Programme include:

1. The modernisation of the Britten Pears Building, first converted in 1979, to enable increased levels of community use and the expansion of our community and creative health programmes. A new lift will be created to ensure that everyone can use the revamped studios. Work is due to start in August 2025.

2. A series of upgrades to Snape Maltings Concert Hall, the first significant works since 1999, to improve access, audience comfort and programming flexibility. There will be auditorium seating improvements, upgraded lighting, an extra passenger lift, refurbished toilets and better kitchen facilities. Work is due to start in January 2027.

3. Britten Pears Arts will significantly lower carbon emissions by installing roof insulation, photovoltaic panels, and by connecting the music buildings to a renewable heating system.

4. Working closely with the Alde and Ore Estuary Trust (AOET) and the East Suffolk Water Management Board (ESWMB), the Snape Maltings flood defences will be raised to protect the site against a 1:200 year event. In parallel, landscape architects will design improvements to outdoor public spaces and access routes. Work is due to start in September 2025.

5. There will be a new visitor exhibition at The Red House and a Discovery Centre at Snape Maltings, to tell the rich stories about the two sites.

6. As well as improvements to existing artist accommodation at Snape Maltings and in Aldeburgh, ten new bedrooms will be created at Snape Maltings for visiting musicians, arts practitioners and visitors.

December 2024

In the next few weeks a series of planning applications are being submitted, the next steps towards us realising a truly sustainable and accessible creative campus at Snape Maltings.

Our £13.8 million Capital Programme will deliver increased activities for the organisation’s communities, enhance lives and improve health through creativity. This work will be transformative for the Britten Pears Arts Community and Creative Health Programmes and will allow the organisation to respond to an increased need by expanding existing projects, adding new strands and reaching significantly more people through activity, knowledge exchange and partnership working.

Last week we enjoyed the start of a consultation with our cultural and wider community; a diverse group of stakeholders from arts organisations large and small, as well as from the health, education and the voluntary sectors, helping us understand the opportunities for our space and activities.

We also plan to hold a number of open days for the public to be able to see the proposals in more detail at Snape Maltings, every Wednesday from 10.30 – 11.30am in February 2025. Everyone is welcome.

Please see full details of planning, timings and engagement within the latest press release. We are enormously grateful for the support we have already received for the programme. We still have money to raise, but these planning applications are an important step towards us realising our plan.

We will be launching an appeal to our donors and members in 2026. If you would like to contribute before then, please get in touch with Emily Stubbs: estubbs@brittenpearsarts.org or Alison de Zoete: adezoete@brittenpearsarts.org. There will be naming opportunities for various elements of the project.

Updates and information will be shared with you as the programme develops further. In the meantime, we hope you will share our excitement about these transformational improvements.

For more information please email capitalprogramme@brittenpearsarts.org.

Read more in the East Anglian Daily Times.