Vertical Horizons

London’s Building Centre is opening its doors after dark for the very first time this November, with an immersive promenade theatre production being staged among its many exhibitions. Despite its location, just off Tottenham Court Road, this impressive building, which last month celebrated its 90th birthday, is not an attraction that draws in the usual West End crowds. A home to architects, planners and builders from across the globe, the centre has taken the bold step to allow a company of actors in, to create a show that comments on the ever-changing landscape of our city. Waste Not Theatre Company has devised seven short plays to be staged in and among the centre’s many exhibition spaces. While audiences embark on a journey through the centre’s exhibits they will discover stories both trivial and of life and death. The array of displays on offer at the Building Centre is forever-changing and can include a whole room of intercoms and doorbells, to the latest in lighting devises for the home, but they also showcases large scale exhibitions and even industry-led ‘festivals’. While Vertical Horizons is being staged the centre is exhibiting architectural models, which bizarrely include a model of St Paul’s Cathedral set in a jelly mould. It will play host to the World of Wood Festival to coincide with the COP26 conference. A celebration of global timber and forest, it includes an illuminated sculpture which guides visitors through the journey from the forest, to tree, to house. But when the lights are off and the exhibits are cast into darkness the ushers of Vertical Horizons, a new development company that hopes to revolutionise the way we live in the city, will attempt to take groups of audiences through their own interactive exhibition to consider what our residential future holds.

These performances take place at The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT