Building Update – January 2026

Here is the latest update on the doors and we have fixed our energy costs.

As many of you are aware, we still have not restored the right hand door into its rightful place.

The reason for the delay is that we have had an issue with the placement of the door lock.

We were challenged by the restorers as to whether they should refit the old lock in the woodwork as was the case previously.  The wood is quite thin on these doors, and installing the lock into the woodwork would undermine the strength of the door, and potentially increase the chance of damage.

In order to avoid this we need a new internal, outward opening lock, which isn’t very common.

Banhams (locksmiths) have recently got back to us and confirmed they can source such a lock. We have also checked with our insurers that they are happy that we change the lock provided it is the same or higher specification.

We still need to restore the other door, and the current thinking is that we will install another temporary door on the other side.  This will mean that we can install both restored doors, with the new lock, at the same time, reducing the costs of fitting one door at a time and then adjusting it to fit whatever lock is currently in use.

We have set aside some budget to assign to both doors and (if we have any money left) further window restorations.

The idea being that we provision in our annual budgets the cost of renovation 2-4 windows each year, and expect that by the time we get them all sorted, we’ll be back to needing work on the first ones – Forth Bridge style!

However, we won’t start any window repairs this year, until the doors have been finished and final costs known as we don’t want to overspend on the budget.

In order to give us some financial security we have negotiated a contract with British Gas to fix our energy (gas and electricity) prices until mid 2028.  Fortunately the estimated costs are looking lower than our current tariff.  This provides us with reassurance that we won’t be affected by sudden increases in energy costs due to market fluctuations (often triggered by unpredictable world events).

The Building Group has a detailed list of building maintenance / improvement issues that need tackling. We’re prioritising according to risk levels and will be moving onto the next items as soon as possible. If you have any questions or ideas or wish to help please do get in touch with us on
building@southlondontheatre.co.uk email address.

Gareth Milton

Commercial Director (volunteer)