darbar
Hayes, London
Type | Arts Centre
Client | Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust (British Charity Reg. 1123009)
Contract Value | Undisclosed
Status | Ongoing November 2024
We have been appointed to help the Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust design their new arts centre in Hayes and couldn’t be happier. This is a really exciting project for us that will be developing quickly… so watch this space.
The Tanpura Indian classical instruments against the Darbar music festival scenery.
Dr Debipriya Das playing the Ranpuria (2008).
Bhai Gurmit Singh Virdee (1937-2005) who is the father of Darbar’s Artistic Director Sandeep Verde OBE and who was a tabla player that made a major contribution to Britain’s music scene.
Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia backstage (2008).
Pandit Ravi Shankar Upadhay & Ustad Bahauddin Dagar having a morning chat before the performance (2008).
Sanjay Subramanyan performing a Carnatic vocals (2008).
A fast look at the book published by Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust (2006).
Here are some recent views of Hayes known as the home of EMI within the London Borough of Hillingdon. Apparently “Hayes, Middlesex” is on the reverse of The Beatles’ albums, because they were manufactured at the town’s Old Vinyl Factory. And this is exactly where Darbar Arts Centre is now located!
We had to do some research to understand the full story but The Old Vinyl Factory is a complex of buildings formerly owned by the British music company EMI - the site was originally purchased by Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd and the building were designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners in the early 20th century. While used by EMI, the site was responsible for the production of many thousands of shellac and vinyl records by 20th century musical acts, as well as radios and other broadcasting equipment.
In April 2011 the site was purchased for redevelopment by a joint venture of Cathedral Group PLC and Development Securities PLC (now U+I Group). Fragments of the original factory remain and are being brought back to life with music-related venues, new commercial, residential units and a university technical college called Global Academy.
Did you know HMV stands for ‘His Master’s Voice’? Apparently Nipper (1884-1895) was made famous by his owner Francis Barraud’s painting of him listening to an early gramophone. Nipper became the HMV logo that music fans are very familiar with and he now occupies a square on ‘Gramophone Lane’ in the new Hayes & Hillingdon redevelopment as a 6m sculpture.
Nipper sits on the area’s main square featuring diagrams of sound waves - the circles are a homage to Alan Blulein, a senior sound engineer and world-renowned inventor at EMI’s Central Research Laboratories, credited with inventing stereo.
Darbar also relies on a graphic element ‘the Darbar Pentagon’ for an identity that unites all its events: from its three day Darbar Festival to year round digital platform. The iconic pentagon branding was developed by Hello Morning and represents the five sides of spirituality. The identity will remain but it will also expand as Darbar opens its new Arts Centre in Hayes & Hillingdon.
