The Royal Ballet and Opera has collaborated on a new range of 16 eco-friendly paint colours with Graphenstone, inspired by the artistry on RBO stages this season.  Graphenstone’s Purifying Paints are changing the interiors industry. They source sustainable raw materials like lime and natural minerals, and fuse these with inert carbon ‘graphene’, creating a durable, mineral-based coating. Certified by Cradle to Cradle, Graphenstone manufactures sustainable and healthy paints, actively purifying your indoor air.  Graphenstone made their RBO debut in the 23/24 season, with a starring role in Damiano Michieletto's new production of Carmen. The Scenic Painting team were delighted with the paints, with plans to use Graphenstone on a number of upcoming productions, both at the Royal Ballet and Opera and across the globe.  

The 16 colours of the new collection are inspired by four of the Royal Ballet and Opera’s most loved productions, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and Carmen. From bold shades of red and blue for statement pieces, to softer whites and pastels for any room in the home, the collection will have something to surprise and delight any aspiring decorator.  This new collaboration underlines the Royal Ballet and Opera's commitment to sustainability by partnering with innovative, green-minded companies. By collaborating with Graphenstone, we are not only reducing our environmental impact but also contributing to broader net zero ambitions. 

The red front cover, which maintains its glossy appearance, now utilizes a water-based coating instead of a plastic laminate, making it easier to recycle. The paper used is FSC® certified supporting responsible forestry, and the printing inks are vegetable-based, further reducing the programmes' ecological footprint.

Pureprint Group's environmental leadership extends beyond the materials used. The company has reduced carbon emissions by using electric vehicles for all deliveries within central London and optimisation of printing to reduce print runs and save energy.

A pioneer in environmental stewardship, Pureprint Group was the first printer to receive international environmental accreditation (ISO14001) and has been honoured with the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development three times. They support the work of the World Land Trust to help preserve high conservation value land and we are pleased to be working with them to continue in our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment.

This new partnership underscores the Royal Ballet and Opera's commitment to sustainability while continuing to deliver the exceptional quality their audiences expect. By choosing Pureprint Group, we are not only reducing our environmental impact but also contributing to broader conservation efforts.

The Royal Opera House has formally recognised the climate and ecological crisis and made a commitment to create productions that work towards a more sustainable production model as outlined by the Theatre Green Book. The Theatre Green Book was an initiative set up in 2020 by the theatre sector in partnership with sustainability experts Buro Happold. It sets standards for making productions, theatre buildings and operations more sustainable.

To work towards this goal, the Scenic Construction Team at the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop in Thurrock are currently working to expand their selection of modular scenery for opera and ballet productions that take place on the Main Stage. They have developed a stock of stretch frames which are typically used for walls and background features in set and scenery. Each stretch frame is made up of a variation of three components - edge, triangle and flat pieces, all available in different dimensions to create various sizes of stretch frame for production designers to choose from. Specially built components made for last season’s Samson et Dalila and Wayne McGregor’s Untitled, 2023 are included in this stock for future reuse. A selection of these modular stretch frames were used for Das Rheingold and will be used in Jephtha amongst others throughout the 2023/24 Season.  

The team are also developing larger modular scenic elements to be shared across productions. This includes a large construction (known as an in-fill) originally made for the staging of La traviata. The in-fill is designed to be lowered on stage so that the top is level with the surrounding stage, creating space for substage access for performers or equipment. It has been created with a set of components that can be reconfigured in many different ways. As well as for La traviata, it will be reused throughout Barrie Kosky's upcoming Ring cycle.  

Importnatly, these guidelines do not limit vision and practice but instead create a framework on which a production design may be constructed, helping the Royal Opera House and the wider industry to work towards a more sustainable model for production design.  

The Royal Opera House costume and props department spent a day with the children at local St Clements Danes CofE Primary School teaching them skills in creating and decorating for a very special project making celebratory bunting for the King's Coronation on 6 May 2023.

The costume department donated bags of fabric left over from costumes that have graced the Royal Opera House Stage and gave the schoolchildren the opportunity to work alongside members of the team and learn how to cut patterns, design individual pieces and create unique sustainable Coronation bunting. The unused pieces of fabric were cut to shape with each child designing their own letter, with the bunting spelling out ‘King Charles Coronation 2023’.

The Coronation bunting will be on display at St Clements Danes CofE Primary School as part of their celebrations to mark the King's Coronation, as well as displayed throughout The Royal Opera House across the Coronation weekend.

The Royal Opera House provided 1,929 items – including jackets, trousers, waistcoats, T-shirts and shirts – to men preparing for job interviews. By reusing quality clothing, the project has saved 17 tonnes of CO2E (the equivalent of 17 hot air balloons) from being released into the atmosphere, had the items gone to landfill.   

Most importantly, the service provided by Suited & Booted has boosted confidence and changed lives. The partnership has enabled service users to move forward following chaotic life experiences, which include addiction, prison and homelessness. We look forward to continuing this work across 2022-2023. 

Suited & Booted is a charity that helps vulnerable, unemployed and low-income men into employment by providing interview clothing and interview advice. They aim to make a difference so that people can move forward with the ability to succeed and find their own way in society. 

You can find out more about their work on the Suited & Booted website. 

The Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre opened at High House Production Park in Thurrock in October 2015 and is home to teams of highly-skilled scenic artists, carpenters, draughtsman, and metalworkers in the Royal Opera House Production Workshop. At the time of opening, Thurrock was at the forefront of sustainable building construction and is now doing even more to help both the local and global environment.

The Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre is home to over 20,000 costumes from the Royal Opera House repertory, together with over 6,000 items from the historic collection including items worn by Maria Callas and Margot Fonteyn. High House Production Park is also home to the Backstage Centre; a flagship national training centre for Creative & Cultural Skills; and High House Artists’ Studios. The 39 artists’ studios and four work/live units are managed by Acme Studios. 

Both the Royal Opera House buildings at the High House Production Park are uniquely heated and cooled. In the hotter months, the buildings are kept cool by natural ventilation that does not use mechanics to freshen the air, unlike conventional methods that rely on energy-using cooling plants. In the colder months, the buildings are headed by a ground source heat pump. This has lead to the Centre receiving a BREEAM excellent rating, meaning that they are in the top 10% of sustainable non-domestic buildings in the UK.

The Royal Opera House has recently refurbished and updated the ground source heat pump at the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop in Thurrock. Our workshops are purpose-built to allow creation of the vast sets and scenery you see on the main stage. The ground source heat pump was originally installed in 2012 to provide sustainable heating to the workshops: water is circulated through 16 loops of pipework that run through boreholes drilled into the ground below the workshop. The cool water entering the system is warmed by the surrounding rock and provides heating to the building. However, it has been found that during the extreme temperatures of summer, a system with cooling, as well as a heating was required.  

Rather than replacing the ground source heat pumps completely, we upgraded the existing system. By replacing the heat pumps with more efficient units that have reversing valves, the system can now provide cooling as well as heating, to the workshop spaces and the other facilities within the building. This more sustainable system saves around 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide in comparison with a conventional heating and cooling system, that’s the same amount as would normally be produced by 25 domestic gas boilers.   

Staff that work in our Thurrock production workshops act sustainably every day, even without thinking about it. The water around the building is gathered both from rain water and excess irrigation water, meaning that there is very little water waste or water pooling on the roof.

We are also proud to have a sedum roof. A sedum roof is a layer of living plants deliberately added to a conventional roof to benefit the local environment. Local air quality is improved with CO2 being absorbed by the plants. These roofs are also wildlife friendly which in turn helps the garden at Thurrock thrive too.