FORGE ARTS is a new purpose built 120-seat studio designed for Recital, Performance and Lectures. Part of the Delancey Street development, it is linked to Caponata Restaurant by a double height glazed courtyard. The studio is conceived as a simple top-lit volume, clad in self finished natural materials. Full height timber clad acoustic screens allow one wall to open up into the glazed space adjacent so the studio can be used as a separate acoustically contained hall or, when open, combined with the restaurant, as a much larger performance and events space. Situated to the rear of a very compact urban site, key issues were maximising space and coordinating services with the adjacent kitchens, Acoustics were central to the design, and the layout, volume and materials were developed in conjunction with Arup Acoustics to ensure the building performs excellently acoustically. “Best of all is the recital room; somewhere between a modern chamber and church hall it feels like a place of real possibility and potential”. Architects Journal 30.7.09 CAPONATA is the restaurant element of the Delancey development designed to accommodate from 30 to 120 diners in a series of spaces on two floors. It can be used with the recital hall as a single space. The kitchens were designed in careful collaboration with chef and catering staff to accommodate a range of covers. The building has a very good BREEAM rating, and hot water is provided by solar thermal roof panels. "This is a wonderful little building ...bringing beauty and civility to the place" Architects Journal 30.07.09