Sidney Harman Hall in Washington DC, United States

April 26, 2010 Category: Cultural, Public Buildings

The Sidney Harman Hall is the contemporary theatre building that designed by Canadian architectural firm Diamond and Schmitt Architects for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, United States. For Washington D.C. as the Shakespeare Theatre Company had played a significant role in revitalizing the downtown’s historic business district which had become something of a no-mans-land after the riots in the 90s, the Sidney Harman Hall is a important project. Sidney Harman Hall is a centerpiece in the revitalization of this part of DC and in recognition of this, the City has contributed $20 million to the project.

The original plan for Sidney Harman Hall was to place the theatre within an office building with almost no street presence. The theatre was to have been contained entirely within the office building posing a number of problems for the theatre and office tower. The design put forth offered an elegant solution to these problems allowing the theatre greater exposure, with transparent lobbies animating the street and adding vibrancy to the surrounding district. The theatre itself is also unique. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s artistic director Michael Kahn calls it “the most flexible theatre in the world”. It can transform from a proscenium theatre, to a thrust or an arena configuration. To that end, Diamond and Schmitt have built a lot of flexibility into the space. The proscenium arch is designed much like a Venetian blind: it consists of a series of panels that retract by winch. Once retracted, the unit can be moved beneath the fly opening and then flown out of sight, leaving an open or bare “end” stage.

In sum the result is to provide public places with a strong visual relationship with the surrounding city, audience comfort, excellent sight lines and acoustics, operating efficiencies and exceptional configuration and acoustic flexibility.

Sidney Harman Hall by Diamond and Schmitt Architects in Washington DC