The Fire Station Auditorium is a new venue in Sunderland developed by the Music, Arts and Culture Trust who are developing a Music, Arts and Cultural Quarter (MACQ) in the centre of Sunderland, that will restore and re-establish the area’s previous importance as the Edwardian heart and soul of the city. The project was won in competition in 2016 and forms a key component in the masterplan for the Music and Cultural Quarter, built around the refurbished Dun Cow pub and the recently renovated adjacent Fire Station. 

A key driver of the brief for the auditorium is the need to address Sunderland’s lack of appropriately sized specialist venues for music. As a result, the new auditorium is designed to accommodate audiences of 450 people seated or 750 people standing in a variety of layouts. The hall will be designed to work equally well for amplified music or a natural acoustic, for the staging of drama, dance or comedy, and conference events. The foyer is designed as an extension of the ground floor public space within the Edwardian Fire Station and the venue will capitalise on the surrounding public open space and create a destination in the heart of the town. It will form a natural partner to the restaurants, bars, and drama and dance rehearsal spaces in and around the Fire station. The Parade Ground to the rear of the Fire Station is being opened up to the public and will feature an outdoor stage allowing the venue to host multiple performances simultaneously.

The Auditorium and the Fire Station together form a continuous façade to the public square. Above the glazed foyer the auditorium will be clad in terracotta brise soleil, matching the colour and tone of the red brickwork of the Fire Station. Views through the terracotta to the interior of the foyer reveal the form of the brick auditorium within. The west elevation to Garden Place and the listed Empire Theatre is formed as a red brick block, carved with a series of simple vertical cuts to reveal windows and entrances with the box of the auditorium projecting above. The sculptural quality of the brick architecture continues around the building to the outdoor stage which forms a proscenium as the focal point of the Parade Ground.