Future of iconic Cochrane Theatre in doubt as Grange Hotels plan take centre stage

Published: 14 October, 2010
EXCLUSIVE by JOSH LOEB

IT was Camden’s “Swinging Sixties” stage – a playhouse associated with the likes of legendary director Peter Brook and controversial playwright Joe Orton.

But now it has emerged that the Cochrane Theatre in Holborn could be facing the wrecker’s ball under plans being drawn up by a luxury hotel chain.

Grange Hotels have yet to file a planning application with Camden Council, but it is understood to have approached Town Hall planning experts to enquire about the feasibility of a scheme to knock down the building,  currently a part of Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design.

The company says it will become the owner of the site after the college relocates to King’s Cross in late 2011, but could not give precise details of ownership agreements due to “commercial confidentiality”.

A Grange Hotels spokesman did not deny that there were plans to demolish the Cochrane Theatre and other parts of the current Central Saint Martin’s site. However, he said there were “no proposals to demolish the listed parts of the buildings”.

He said: “The proposals are in the very early stages of planning. 

“They will include a world-class events centre for that site as a preliminary and the scheme is nowhere near ad­vanced. 

“Grange Hotels ac­quired this site following the decision by the college to relocate to a new campus in King’s Cross. 

“The theatre is owned by the college, which has decided for its own reasons to relocate and which will be building a new theatre as part of its new campus.”

He added that Grange Hotels were “very proud of their record of supporting arts and culture in London”.

The hotel chain’s assurances have fallen on deaf ears among fans of the Cochrane, how­ever. 

Peter Schaufuss, a respected Covent Garden-based dancer and choreographer who recently considered buying the Cochrane, said it would be “criminal” to demolish it.

Dance and theatre agent Sid Shaw called the design of the Cochrane Theatre “iconic” and said it should be protected as a “London landmark”.

Lib Dem councillor for Camden Town and Primrose Hill Chris Naylor – who helped save the Almeida Theatre in Islington when that building was threatened with demolition – said he was also opposed to the demolition, saying: “Count me among the protesters if it’s true.”

The Cochrane was opened in 1964 and hosted Peter Brook’s Theatre of Cruelty season in that year and the premiere of Joe Orton’s groundbreaking comedy Loot a year later.

More recently it has become known for well-received dance and ballet productions, with acclaimed company Ballet Rambert staging shows there.