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Dance theatre, St. Petersburg

An official beginning for UNStudio's palatial ballet premises.

ST. PETERSBURG (RU) - Last year Dutch architectural firm UNStudio submitted the competition-winning design for a sleek new dance theatre in St. Petersburg, a project that has now commenced in earnest following the signing of its building contract with the city. Forming a key element in the master plan for a new urban square, the Dance Palace embodies UNStudio's futuristic design aesthetic as well as its previous success in several other contemporary theatre projects. The design, intended primarily for ballet, will contain both a large and small auditorium and floats gracefully in its surroundings, despite an initial monolithic appearance. This is partly due to a facade system of triangular cladding panels that will introduce a measure of transparency to the building, varying its openness from opaque to perforate. Careful not to overshadow its present neighbours, the striking building will further integrate itself by maintaining the typical St. Petersburg elevation of 28 metres. (Dutton R. Hauhart)

Yesterday UNStudio and Grigorjev & Partners LLC signed the contract with the client, Petersburg City LLC, for the new Dance Palace in the historic centre of St. Petersburg, following the success of the design competition in July last year. The project is a 24,000 m² dance theatre, housing The Eifman Ballet, headed by the prolific choreographer Boris Eifman. The Dance Palace forms part of the European Embankment city quarter master plan for a new urban square in St. Petersburg.

The Dance Palace in St. Petersburg embraces the rich history of the world renowned Russian Modern Ballet within the historic setting of St. Petersburg. The signing of the contract is a milestone for the international and St. Petersburg teams. According to Ben van Berkel, 'The ambition of the city of St. Petersburg and of our client to proceed with this project is a wonderful example of perseverance. To set up a team with international specialists alongside specialists from St. Petersburg has been quite a challenge, particularly as - alongside all the technical challenges - we have to address the challenges of affordability and sustainability, or what I like to call attainability.'

UNStudio has extensive experience in theatre design, with recently completed projects including the Theatre Agora in Lelystad (Netherlands) and the MUMUTH Music Theatre in Graz (Austria). UNStudio is also currently designing a new theatre for Spijkenisse in the Netherlands.

Thursday | 11 February | 2010 | Russia | UNStudio