Jerwood Dance House, Ipswich

Celebrating culture on the waterfront

As part of the wider Cranfields Mill masterplan, LBY Architects designed the Jerwood Dance House to provide a permanent home for DanceEast, the region’s leading contemporary dance organisation. The result is a bold civic building that combines professional facilities with public engagement, energising a previously industrial edge of the town.

Located at the heart of the Ipswich Waterfront redevelopment, the building plays a key role in transforming the dockside into a centre for creativity, activity, and cultural pride.

A landmark venue for dance and performance that anchors cultural regeneration on Ipswich’s historic waterfront.

Modern multi-story building with signage for Jerwood Dance House, situated on a street corner with a curved road, adjacent to traditional brick buildings, under a clear blue sky.

Purpose-Built for Dance

The Dance House includes:

  • A 200-seat theatre with full technical rigging

  • Five professional rehearsal studios

  • Education rooms, meeting spaces and offices

  • A public café and foyer with gallery potential

The building’s layout was developed to promote visibility and openness. Circulation is designed around a central spine, with large areas of glazing offering views into studio spaces and rehearsal rooms, reinforcing the Dance House’s community presence.

Material Honesty and Contextual Confidence

The architecture draws from the materials and scale of the historic dockside warehouses, using:

  • Brick, zinc, timber and glass in carefully considered combinations with exposed concrete interiors

  • Large-format cladding and industrial tones for external finishes

  • A waterfront elevation that acts as both a performance backdrop and civic marker.

Performance and Legacy

Years of collaboration with dance companies and choreographers enabled the practice to deliver a world-class centre for dance.
The theatre, named after James Hehir, the supportive Chief Executive of Ipswich Borough Council, is a large studio with fold-out bleacher seating. It is acoustically protected — even its concrete ground slab is suspended on rubber blocks to isolate it from road vibrations.

The Dance House has received acclaim from internationally celebrated dancers including Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant, and Tamara Rojo.

Since opening in 2009, Jerwood Dance House has continued to host leading dance companies and choreographers from the UK and abroad, while providing high-quality facilities for community classes and training at all levels.

A ballet dance class inside the bright Jerwood Dance House DanceEast studio with students practicing at the barre, with large windows streaming in daylight, and a ceiling with additional lighting panels.
DanceEast reception area with tall concrete walls, a purple sign, and 2 people talking at the small reception counter.
Modern cafe or restaurant interior with red and white chairs around glass tables, large windows, polished concrete floors, and contemporary chandeliers, featuring a mezzanine level with glass railing and wooden ceiling accents.
Two young students posing in a side-way dance pose on a staircase inside Jerwood Dance House with large windows and colourful orange-yellow hanging light fixture.

“The Jerwood Dance House has transformed Ipswich’s waterfront, placing culture and creativity at the centre of urban regeneration.”

Architecture Today, 2010

Quote…

Four women practicing ballet in a spacious, well-lit dance studio with large windows and wooden floors.
Interior of a modern building with a staircase leading to an upper level, large windows, colorful hanging lights, and two people, one ascending and one standing near the staircase.
An indoor concert hall setting with the view from the back of an empty stage with musical instruments including a xylophone, drums, and cymbals, looking out to an audience seated in theatre seats.
Interior of a modern, busy entrance area with people sitting, standing, and walking, featuring large windows, a staircase, and wood-panelled walls.
A creatively shot image of people sitting on a curved wooden bench and green chairs inside a modern building with wooden ceiling panels and concrete columns.
Floor plan of a multi-story wellness and therapy center, showing different rooms and facilities on the ground, first, and second floors, including studios, therapy room, cafe, green rooms, resource library, seminar room, and restrooms.
Reception area with a woman sitting at a desk, concrete wall background, 'DanceEast' sign on the wall, modern decor with wooden and frosted glass elements.
Interior of a modern building with large windows, colorful seating area, and artistic orange and yellow lighting fixture.
  • Looking up at a beige interior with large windows and two people dancing on the floor, with a bright orange chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
  • An empty theater or auditorium with a stage set up for a musical or performance. Instruments, including drums, xylophone, and percussion, are on the stage. Airplane interior with red seats and a staircase, and a few people seated and standing in the audience area.
  • Two young students in blue tops standing on indoor staircase, one with arms raised gracefully, the other with hand on abdomen, near modern red and orange hanging light fixture.
  • Three women stand and converse at a modern bar area inside a building. The bar has glass shelves with bottles and glassware, and a small refrigerator under the counter. Red chairs and a table are to the left, along with a large concrete column and staircase above.

The details

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Client: DanceEast / Wharfside Regeneration
Location: Ipswich Waterfront
Completion: 2009
Building Type: Cultural / Performing Arts Venue
Contractor: Laing O’Rourke
Value: £9m

Photographs: Morley von Sternberg + Richard Bryant

APPROACH & INFLUENCE

Project Type: Cultural regeneration within mixed-use masterplan

Design Approach: Civic visibility, industrial materiality, creative openness


AWARDS & RECOGNITION

RIBA East Awards – Commended 2010

PRESS COVERAGE

Dancing Times 2009

RIBA Journal 2009 

Building Magazine 2009

BBC News Article 2009

Architects Journal 2009

Dance UK Bulletin 2009

BBC News article 2009

FX Design 2009

AJ Specification 2010

Architecture Today 2010

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