The Stage

Children’s arts venue becomes first wind-powered theatre in UK

Published Tuesday 10 June 2008 at 14:25 by Lalayn Baluch

A children’s arts venue in south-west London has become the first theatre in the UK to be powered solely by wind.

The Colour House Children’s Theatre, based within the Grade II-listed Merton Abbey Mills, has had a new wind turbine installed which will completely cut its electricity bill, saving the venue up to £10,000 every year.

The turbine, which will supply the site with renewable, environmentally-friendly power, has been sponsored by Green Energy UK, in partnership with the owner of the building, Office Estate Ltd - meaning that its installation has not cost the theatre itself any money.

Colour House director Peter Wallder told The Stage that the venue will be using the savings on the electricity to carry out much-needed refurbishment work on the venue.

Wallder explained: “It will help everything tremendously. Being a 76-seat studio theatre we rely heavily on support, so it will have a direct and dramatic effect.

“We’ve got very poor heating and ventilation in the venue because it is a very old building and it has very bad insulation. We are going to have it properly insulated and sound proofed. The bigger plan is that we are looking to have an extension made.”

He added that the company, which has been running for 13 years and is now on its 66th production, will look at ways to teach children about green energy and the environment through its theatrical work.

The ‘qr5 turbine’ works by detecting the right level of wind speed and draws power from the grid to start rotors. Once it has achieved the right speed it starts producing its own renewable energy, which is fed directly into the theatre. In the right conditions, the turbine is capable of producing enough renewable electricity each year to power three homes or a 20-person office.

Theatres Trust director Mhora Samuel commented: “This is a great initiative by Colour House Children’s Theatre. Its new wind turbine really helps promote the use of renewable energy sources whilst making the theatre more sustainable. It”s fantastic that instead of spending money on energy bills it can use its funds to engage more young people in drama activities and keep building overheads low.”