The Future
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The Future |
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It took many months of planning, hard work, negotiation and patience to pull the four different land owners of the site into one, and to then plan every stage of its forth-coming development. |
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This will be a world class production facility which will also have the newly created National Skills Academy: together making a venture called the Production Park which will have 4,000 square metres of new workshops including paint, metal, carpentry, and fibreglass shops. The main building will have a 25 metre tall roof, the same dimensions as the Covent Garden stage, to allow sets to be worked on and seen as they would appear on the stage. |
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| This also allows the scenery to be modified before it is loaned to other opera houses all over the world, and will also include community, education and exhibition spaces. | ||
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Work has already been undertaken to build the UK’s first ever national centre of excellence for technical skills, production and craft skills for the performing arts and live music industries, as it is thought that the industry needs around 30,000 people over the coming decade. This will be accomplished through apprenticeships in stage craft, lighting, and other stage craft industries, giving people the possibility of training several hundred feet away from a potential job and employment in the ROH Production Park. |
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The below artists impression shows what the site is intended to look like once all the works have been finished. Top left is the Royal Opera Houses scene production building, with small, independent business housed behind. One more exciting addition to the site is the inclusion of the National Skills Academy between the scene production building and High House on the right. This will be the first of its type in the country, where students can learn and train to be a lighting director or technician, a fabrication welder or prop maker, a stage hand or set producer. Built in direct response to the national shortfall of skilled people educated in stage craft, the National Skills Academy is complemented by the 'U' shaped students block just below, this promises to be an incredible site once completed, with education on one corner and production on the other, where students can actually gain experience in the very industry they've trained hard for. |
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Many years have been spent bringing High House to its current position and stature, with many hours spent by ordinary members of the community giving up their own time to preserve High House. All those consultations, organisations, dedicated officials and the countless money that has been invested in this dream, All the clearance and event days spent trying to raise the awareness of High House have led to this point, where the former farm can be re-opened to the public. All the hopes and dreams of the community safely stowed in the bricks and mortar of High House, simply adding yet another layer of history to nearly half a millennia of history. |
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| The future... | ||
The continued survival of High House depends on people who are passionate about helping this historic property, and the High House Community Group are very much part of this campaign. Each month the group meet to discuss issues arising from the design, planning, development and renovations of High House. The groups aims to positively influence the site for the benefit of the community and here is how you can help. |
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We all hope that you'll come and see High House, get involved with this incredible project and, very much like the rest of us, will fall in love with this magnificent heritage asset that will stand for many more years. If you would like to get involved in the project and want to help shape High House and the Production Park then simply email us on the address below, or you are welcome to attend the High House meetings on the last Thursday of every month at the Proof House, Centurion Way, Purfleet, ...and be prepared for the journey of a life-time. |
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