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LSO St Luke's
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) at St Luke's on Old Street, originally designed by Levitt Bernstein Architects with Max Fordham in 2003, has now reopened following a major renovation by the same design team. The centre has been upgraded and improved with state-of-the-art facilities to meet the changing needs of the Orchestra, LSO Discovery, artistic partners, and the local community.
Key information
Architect
Levitt Bernstein
Client
London Symphony Orchestra
Value
£8m
Year of Completion
2025
Location
LondonSector
Services
Challenge
LSO St Luke’s is home to LSO Discovery, the London Symphony Orchestra’s music education and community programme, and is set within the historic Grade I-listed St Luke's church designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor.
The centre offers wide-reaching access for performers, creatives and music listeners through concerts, workshops and education, but 20 years since the centre was created, it was in need of a major upgrade to incorporate new technology and meet the orchestra's changing needs.
For Max Fordham, this meant designing a new system of technical containment which weaves through the highly constrained voids in the existing building, as well as applying new services to the reorganised interior, which now features audio control and master control rooms, flexible workshop areas, improved accessibility, enhanced audience and front-of-house spaces, and upgraded rehearsal and education facilities. The works also included new internal and external lighting to all areas.
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© Tim Crocker
© David Levene 2025
© David Levene 2025
© Tim Crocker
Lighting design
Our proposals for lighting LSO St Luke's included a completely new system of external and architectural lighting, highlighting the architectural beauty of the Grade I-listed church for the first time whilst also addressing long-standing issues with safety and accessibility on the grounds.
The historic elevations and obelisk spire have been subtly illuminated on all sides to provide them with prominence in the London skyline and create long views connecting to St Luke’s sister organisation, the Barbican.
Internally, new lighting and controls to key areas reduce energy consumption, improve the visual comfort and legibility of the spaces, and help ensure that the building remains a flexible, welcoming and inclusive venue for the next two decades.
Jerwood Hall, the main performance area, has been provided with a new house-lighting installation that celebrates the unique character of the heritage space and is integrated into the theatre's technical systems for greater flexibility.
The particular challenges in lighting St. Luke's included protecting the historic fabric whilst finding new locations for fittings, and ensuring that we respected its identity as both an extremely valued cultural venue and an important heritage building.
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© David Levene 2025
© David Levene 2025
© David Levene 2025
© David Levene 2025
© David Levene 2025
