Helen Walker MBE

Director of Operations

Helen Walker

Helen is a highly experienced arts leader, with extensive strategic and operational management experience across visual arts, heritage and theatre sectors. Prior to joining Theatreplan, she spent over 10 years running Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, a Grade I listed historic house and contemporary art gallery in west London. She oversaw all operational elements, including finance and fundraising, conservation, communications, HR and the commercial business. Helen was one of the initiators of a major capital redevelopment project for the house and gallery and was later instrumental in raising the public and private funding to ensure it came to fruition. As a result, she was awarded an MBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for services to heritage and the community in Ealing.

Helen’s earlier experience was focused entirely on theatre. She began her career at the British Council Drama and Dance department, moving on to work for a theatre logistics company, Theatours. Later, as a practitioner, she co-founded the theatre company Outrageous Acts, writing and directing in London and on tour. After producing and directing her own first play at the Finborough Theatre, she was a finalist for the Arts Council/BAC Young Director of the Year Award. She has a Masters degree in Theatre Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Helen works with the Directors to provide company management oversight on strategic and financial matters, business development and legal compliance across all areas of the business.

Current Position
Director of Operations

Joined Theatreplan
2017

Qualifications
MA

About Us

Theatreplan is a specialist technical design consultancy, helping to create amazing spaces for performance, around the world.

What We Do

What We Do
We provide the complete range of venue and auditorium planning, and technical design services, including lighting, sound, stage engineering,
AV, digital and communications. We cover all stages of a project, from feasibility and concept design, right through to construction and opening night.

We help design new spaces for performance, wherever live or digital content is shown and created, from concert halls and school theatres, to cinemas and motion capture studios. We also help refurbish historic theatres, and work with some of the world’s largest and most complex performance venues to upgrade their technical facilities.

Our Approach
Your vision, for your performance space, provides the focus for our work. We will closely collaborate with you, and other specialists when working as part of a design team, so we understand what you really need from your space. We will be honest with you about what we think is achievable and the best ways to go about delivering your vision. We will suggest new ideas that may not have been considered before and discuss these ideas with you to ensure they meet your requirements.

Why Choose Theatreplan?
For over 35 years we have designed award winning performing arts venues, and re-imagined existing spaces, for clients around the world. Our specialist venue planners and auditorium designers help create beautiful, bespoke performance spaces, while our stage engineers, lighting, sound, AV and communications consultants, can provide cutting edge technical infrastructure design, having gained their knowledge and expertise through years of experience working in theatres.

We understand practitioners, and what creatives, directors, performers, and technicians need to make their performances thrill, excite and move audiences, with dynamic, flexible spaces that cater for the many and varied requirements for performance today.

We know what audiences want from a venue and how to make that a reality

We always factor in the needs of operators to ensure venues are sustainable for the future.

And we prioritise environmental sustainability throughout every stage of a project, to bring innovative solutions that support sustainable development.

We have an absolute commitment to ensuring client satisfaction and an engaging, fun, and genuinely collaborative approach to the creative process.

We can’t wait to hear about your project. Call us on +44 (0) 20 7841 0440 or get in touch via email: info@theatreplan.com

Our Team

All
Directors
Consultants
Architects/Technical
Operations
Associates
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Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Executive Director
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Dave Ludlam
Dave Ludlam
Executive Director
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Mathew Smethurst-Evans
Mathew Smethurst-Evans
Executive Director
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Matt Kingslake
Matt Kingslake
Consultant
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Chris Needle
Chris Needle
Consultant and BIM Manager
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Chris Pye
Chris Pye
Senior Associate
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John Whitaker
John Whitaker
Founder Consultant
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Roger Fox
Roger Fox
Founder Consultant
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Kit Lerman
Kit Lerman
Consultant and Head of Audio, Video, Broadcast
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Jibril Muhammad
Jibril Muhammad
Junior Consultant
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Bosco Tan
Bosco Tan
Senior Associate
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Christopher James
Chris James
Consultant
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Chris Clegg Portrait
Chris Clegg
Senior Associate
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Shmem
Shmem Geddes
Consultant
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Peter Crockett
Peter Crockett
Stage Engineer
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Lara Kerrison
Lara Kerrison
Architect and Theatre Planner
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Barry Pritchard
Barry Pritchard
Senior Associate
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Paolo Ribichescu
Paolo Ribichesu
BIM Architect
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Andrea Sinigaglia
Andrea Sinigaglia
BIM Architect
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Anniek Wassser
Anniek Wasser
Senior Associate
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Amy Hickson
Amy Hickson
Practice Manager
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Helen Walker
Helen Walker MBE
Director of Operations

Our Partnerships

Theatreplan is proud to support the following sector organisations

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Theatres Trust 24
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Let's start a conversation
info@theatreplan.com
+44 (0) 20 7841 0440

31 Colonnade
London WC1N 1JA
United Kingdom