Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects designed the Crucible, and M J Gleeson built it. Tanya Moiseiwitsch, who had worked on Sir Tyrone Guthrie's theatres, designed the theatre itself. Colin George, the founding artistic director, recommended a thrust stage in 1967. The site was the former Adelphi Hotel, which closed in May 1969 and was demolished soon after.
Building took two years from 1969, and the theatre officially opened in November 1971. The audience sits on three sides of the stage, and no seat is more than 66 feet (20 m) away. Capacity is 980 seats, and the studio, now the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, seats 400. The article describes the physical aspects as modernist.
English Heritage lists it Grade II, designated November 1, 2007. A 15 million pound refurbishment ran from 2007 to late 2009, and the theatre reopened in February 2010. Sheffield Theatres owns it.
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