# Hackney Wick’s Yard theatre reopens in £4m low-waste home

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/our-loos-theyre-inspired-by-milans-villa-necchi-the-reborn-planks-and-plasterboard-theatre-trouncing-its-flashy-neighbours/
- Published: 2026-10-27T05:00:01+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-27T05:17:15+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/oct/27/villa-necchi-the-yard-olympic-pizzazz-ian-mckellen-olympic
- Topics: Celebrity, Culture, Cybersecurity, Entertainment, Technology

## Key points

- The Yard has reopened in a £4m Hackney Wick theatre.
- £3m of its funding came from post-Olympic development contributions.
- Its recycled materials include bricks made with 95% construction waste.

## Summary

The Yard theatre in Hackney Wick has reopened in a £4m purpose-built home, replacing the improvised warehouse space it occupied for more than a decade. Its reuse of old building parts and low-waste design offer a distinctive cultural presence amid the area’s post-Olympic development, while Ian McKellen is due to appear in its next production.

Founded in 2011, the theatre secured £3m in Community Infrastructure Levy funding from the London Legacy Development Corporation. Architect Takero Shimazaki’s design incorporates a disused crane tower as a beacon and ventilation shaft, and uses unfired bricks made with 95% construction waste, recycling 16 tonnes of material and avoiding emissions equivalent to 3.5 tonnes of CO₂. The original space helped launch work that reached the National Theatre and won Bafta and Olivier recognition.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.