Kala Sangam expansion plans submitted to Bradford Council

Earlier this month, Kala Sangam announced that it had grand plans for its current home – St Peter’s House in Little Germany.

Thanks in part to National Lottery funding, the arts group’s presence in the Grade II listed building would be expanded to include a new 200 seater theatre.

Now a planning application for the work has been submitted to Bradford Council, which reveals that the plan will also include a new space for local radio station BCB, as well as new studio spaces that will allow the group to expand what it currently offers.

Built in the 1880s as a post office, St Peter's House has also been home to a museum before Kala Sangam moved in in 2007.

Kala Sangam in Little Germany (Image: newsquest)

In the year before lockdown, almost 30,000 people visited the venue, and it has hosted events such as the Women of the World Festival and sessions of Bradford Literature Festival.

The group currently has little presence on the ground floor of the building, and the application details how the new plans will make use of more of the grand building – which is opposite the Broadway Shopping Centre.

The application says: “Kala Sangam now finds itself at venue capacity, without the necessary space to accommodate an increasing demand among artists, audiences and other users for its spaces and activities.

“With the whole-building redevelopment proposed, Kala Sangam can continue to grow and maximise its impact on the local, regional and national arts ecology, and also benefit from a considerable increase to income generation potential.”

The group was recently awarded a £295,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to press ahead with the new plans.

An artist's impression of how Kala Sangam would look under the new plans (Image: Kala Sangam)

The planning application says a new, larger entrance foyer will replace the centre’s existing cramped ground floor entrance, that requires visitors to use a small lift to ascend to the main areas of Kala Sangam.

The entrance will “allow a greater amount of visitors to pass through the space at once, particularly important for performance nights at the theatre.”

This new theatre would be based on the ground floor, and have capacity for 200 audience members – increasing the scale of performances that can be held at the centre.

There will also be a dance studio over the main foyer.

The Indus Room – where many of the current events are held, will remain, as will the café space overlooking Bradford Cathedral.

The application says the expansion will create new jobs. Currently the centre employs six people in full time roles and six in part time roles.

If approved, Kala Sangam will employ 12 people in full time roles and three people in part time roles.

A decision on the application is expected before the end of the year.