Public facilities play a major role in setting a city’s mood. However, libraries, museums, and other public amenities often lack the spirit or oomph to inspire life above the utility for which they are prescribed.
With rapid urbanization comes the need for buildings and places—genius loci. Well, Theatre de Stoep in Spijkenisse, Netherlands, is a building that goes beyond the brief—it is a welcome addition that has reinvigorated its immediate urban context.
UNStudio teamed up with Arup to create a building that could bridge the gap between the theatre prototype and the socio-cultural requirements of the local community of Spijkenisse.
On the one hand, the building offers an encapsulating theatre experience and, on the other, a vibrant opportunity for social activities. Because “back of house” requirements were to be included, UNStudio did a fairly commendable job of creating an object that addressed the spatial complexities of a project of this scale.
In response to the role of the modern theatre, Ben van Berkel is quoted to have said the following: “In contrast to today’s mediatized culture, theatre offers the participatory experience of the live event, often appropriately referred to as ‘liveliness’: the ‘magic of live theatre’, understood as the strange, elusive energy between audience and performer, the community forged together and the momentary collaboration necessitated by the live event.
Theatre de Stoep is designed to fortify and inspire this liveliness, providing a place of performance, social gathering, and experiencing contrasting realities: the world of the other, of fabrication, of expression and display, but simultaneously the very real sentient experience of ourselves as spectators within these worlds.”
The 5 800 sqm design comprises a larger 650-capacity auditorium and a smaller 200-capacity one. Some of the servant spaces include a grand foyer, a café and restaurant, a VIP lounge, offices, and dressing rooms.
All this is achieved in a massing block that borrows from the flower metaphor. However, the central column-free foyer is the hinge that connects the two grand spaces.
This foyer serves as a datum and a way-finding arena that leads to a sculptural stairway that binds the two auditoria entrances. “The vertical foyer becomes a pivotal point in the social functioning of the theatre, a ‘stage’ for the visitors and a dynamic focal point surrounded by viewpoints on different levels.” Ben van Berkel notes.
Great theatre experiences depend on heightening the senses—especially those of sight and sound. To set the scene, the design team toyed with light and shadow, mood, and color.
During the day, the glass façade on the ground floor allows natural light to penetrate the foyer from the front and above, creating a deep contrast with the subdued lighting in the auditorium. At night, controlled artificial lighting creates a warm ambiance and an inviting atmosphere.
With the brief calling for Theatre de Stoep to be able to host an array of theatrical performances, acoustic flexibility was essential. Arup was able to foresee the different settings for plays, operas, and concerts and, in so doing, designed special ceiling elements that could be lowered and angled to optimize volume levels depending on the event taking place within the theatres. Moreover, acoustic wall panels installed on the sides enable the reflection of sound and the augmentation of sound quality.
The upper portion of the building features a curvilinear form that responds to wind flow, minimizing turbulence. Theatre de Stoep sits well on its site, surrounded by water and connected by a bridge. There is a dialogue with the nearby windmill, ‘Nooitgedacht’.
Traces of the purple color scheme employed in the interior are seen on the building skin in the form of circular hollow intrusions lit by LED lights. This is a welcome relief, an icing on the cake, to the all-white tiled blanket that defined the upper half of Theatre de Stoep.
Project Information
Architects: UNStudio
Location: Spijkenisse, Netherlands
Client: Municipality of Spijkenisse
Design Team: Ben van Berkel, Gerard Loozekoot with Jacques van Wijk, Hans Kooij, Lars Nixdorff, Thomas Harms, Gustav Fagerstrom, Ramon van der Heijden Tatjana Gorbachewskaja, Jesca de Vries, Wesley Lanckriet, Maud van Hees, Benjamin Moore, Henk van Schuppen, Philipp Mecke, Colette Parras, Daniela Hake, Mazin Orfali, Selim Ahmad
Engineering: Arup, Amsterdam; IOB, Hellevoetsluis
Quantity Surveyors: Basalt Bouwadvies, Nieuwegein
Lighting: Arup, Amsterdam
Acoustics: SCENA Akoestisch Adviseurs, Uden
Interiors: Form Finish, Beverwijk
Contractor: VORM Bouw, Papendrecht
Area: 7 000 sqm
Status: Completed, 2014
Photographs: Jan Paul Mioulet, Peter Guenzel, Peter de Jong, Arup
