Amphion Theatre Doetinchem, Mecanoo Building Design Holland, Architect Project News
Amphion Theatre, Doetinchem
Dutch Architecture Development – design by Mecanoo in The Netherlands, Europe
29 Sep 2010
Amphion Theatre Doetinchem
Design: Mecanoo architecten
Queen officially opens Amphion theatre, designed by Mecanoo
Images by Christian Richters added of Schouwburg Amphion in Doetinchem:
photographs © Christian Richters
8 September 2010, Queen Beatrix officially opened the new Amphion theatre in Doetinchem. Theatre director Henk Raben and architect Francesco Veenstra toured Her Majesty around the theatre complex, which replaces the successful Amphion from the 1970s.
The new theatre features slightly reclined facades with sand-coloured masonry and a playful pattern of square windows. From the interior, this creates surprising compositions imbuing each space with its own character. The audience enters the theatre through an ascending forecourt which plays the role of a red carpet.
Warm red shades prevail within the spacious interior of four linked foyers. The horseshoe-shaped main auditorium with three balconies and a total of 860 seats maintains an intimate atmosphere owing to the close proximity of the audience to the stage.
The small 300 seat theatre has is flexibility of due to a flat floor construction, and is almost an exact replica of the small theatre hall of the old Amphion. Because performances change relatively quickly, loading and unloading is now centrally located between the two stages. Uniquely, the large and small theatre halls have windows, so that theatre technicians can work in daylight.
photographs © Christian Richters
Henk Raben, director of Amphion: “With Mecanoo’s new Amphion, we race at the front of the pack again! It is a warm theatre in which visitors feel at home; we have seen this in the enthusiastic responses of the 15,000 people who have visited the theatre during the four open days. The theatre is exactly has we had envisioned.”
Francesco Veenstra, project architect Mecanoo: “It’s a theatre of the highest technical quality, yet with the intimate atmosphere of a classic theatre. With its striking shades of red, it has become a festive cultural temple for the Achterhoek region.”
Mecanooarchitecten was founded in Delft in 1984 and is led by architect / director Francine Houben. In the Achterhoek region, Mecanoo also designed Isala College in Silvolde , which was awarded the School Building Prize in 1996 and extended in 2004. Mecanoo’s other theatre projects include the Toneelschuur in Haarlem (2003) and La Llotja theatres and conference centre in Lleida, Spain (2010). The construction of the Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan was begun this year.
photographs © Christian Richters
Amphion Theatre Doetinchem – Building Information
Programme: theatre with large 860 seat theatre hall, small 300 seat theatre hall, lobby and theatre café totalling 9,700 m2
Design: 2006-08
Realisation: 2008-10
Client: Cultural Centre Theatre Amphion SA, Doetinchem
Structural engineer: ABT bv, Delft
Project management and building cost consultant: BBN Consultants, Houten
Building physics advisor, acoustics and fire safety: LBP SIGHT, Nieuwegein
Technical theatre advisor: Theateradvies bv, Amsterdam
Mechanical, electrical engineers: Royal Haskoning, Rotterdam
Contractor: Aan de Stegge Bouw & Werktuigbouw, Goor
Building costs including installations € 23,130,000
Amphion Theatre Doetinchem images / information from Mecanoo
Location: Doetinchem, Netherlands
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