The Gate Arts Centre (often just referred to as the Gate) is an arts centre and community building located in Keppoch Street, Roath,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. The Gate is in a Grade 2

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

(in what was formerly the Plasnewydd Presbyterian Church) and was opened in September 2004.

History

The Gate is housed in a Grade II listed church building, formerly the Plasnewydd Presbyterian Church and school hall. It is located in Keppoch Street overlooking Plasnewydd Square in the Roath area of Cardiff. The school hall was built in 1886 and the church was added in 1901 to the designs of architect W. Beddoe Rees in collaboration with J. H. James.Plasnewydd Presbyterian Church and attached Hall, Roath
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 3 January 2016. In a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, the church has three bays to the front and four bays facing Keppoch Street. A polygonal bell tower is on the street corner. The main body of the church had (and still has) galleries on three sides, supported by iron columns with classical capitals. The building was received a heritage listing of Grade II in 1998, being a prominent, finely detailed church by an important architect. The Gate centre was purchased in 2000 and underwent a four-year redevelopment with the aid of £1.2M from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £1.2M from a private individual and £400,000 from the Welsh Assembly Government.History
The Gate Arts Centre. Retrieved 3 January 2016. After four years of planning and refurbishment under the guidance of architect Rob Cruwys, it opened its doors in September 2004. The BBC television programme ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'' was filmed here and broadcast on 14 May 2006.

Founders

The centre was founded by religious author,

Rob Lacey Rob Lacey (1962 – 1 May 2006) was a British actor, storyteller and author of ''The Word on the Street'' (formerly ''The Street Bible'') and '' The Liberator''. Background Lacey spent approximately 20 years as an actor and broadcaster, spec ...

(d. 2006), and his wife Sandra Harnich-Lacey.

Facilities

After four years of planning and refurbishment under the guidance of architect Rob Cruwys, it opened the Gate doors in September 2004. The Grand Theatre, formerly an upper section of the church, is a performance space seating up to 350 on the original wooden pews and a raked gallery floor. The Dance Studio features the original carved

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

and elaborate columns. The Gate has two Exhibition Galleries, the first in the original front entrance to the church with a glazed screen and curved pew, the other in a corridor against the original exterior south stone wall. A cafe bar has been formed in the original schoolroom, the oldest part of the building dating back to 1896. Other spaces available include an auditorium in which visiting theatre and musical groups are able to perform.

Workshops and classes

Throughout the week a variety of courses and workshops are held at the centre ranging from

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

. Se
The Gate Arts Centre Weekly Classes
The Gate Arts Centre also offers drama classes. The

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

is often used for performances and plays. The Saturday morning theatre group, Performers, uses the venue regularly and uses the upstairs theatre for its performances.

References

External links

The Gate Arts Centre

Oxjam Cardiff Chill 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gate Arts Centre, The Theatres in Cardiff Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff Arts centres in Cardiff Performing arts centres in Wales Roath