part of the city, a theatre as a city
A difficult and challenging location, the head of the Kvæsthusbroen is the ideal location for the Royal Theatre. It emphasises the narrowing of the harbour, it creates a new urban area on the waterside, and the introduction of a bridge over the waterway and the inner harbour to the royal palace has turned the Kvæsthusbroen into a walking, cycling and cultural intersection in Copenhagen, instead of an isolated pier. With the Royal Theatre as a central catalyst, the Kvæsthusbroen can become a lively urban area where a variety of cultural events can be organised.
The foyer of the theatre is the most public space of the building; an area for meeting and passing through, where audiences prepare for their visit to the theatre and subsequently evaluate the cultural experience. The foyer surrounded by glass encourages the people of Copenhagen to enjoy dance and drama. It is therefore a part of the pier rather than being a separate area which floats above the city. The foyer has a shiny stainless steel roof, apparently a nonchalant composition but in fact a precisely organised theatre machine. The stages, workplaces, decor storage rooms and loading bays have all been organised on one level. Trucks drive from the pier up the slope to the centre of the first floor. The decor is distributed in the theatre from the loading bay.
Due to all the boxes having a specific size and position, sunlight and moonlight can shine into the foyer through the leftover voids. Each box is supported by a tailor-made construction, a collection of elegant thin poles or a single heavy column. This diversity of supports results in a variation of thick and thin floors, making the foyer ceiling an exciting layer of clouds which defines the various spaces in the foyer.
The large theatre auditorium in combination with the main stage and the two side stages in particular is simply too wide to fit on the narrow pier. It therefore protrudes over the inner harbour and creates a fascinating space between water and ceiling. A platform with a dual purpose, for special events and as an emergency exit, floats on the water.
The bridge over the waterway and the inner harbour separates the public restaurant from the foyer. If there are no activities in the theatre, the restaurant is always a lively spot on the pier. The small theatre auditorium is located above the restaurant and can function independently with its own identity, yet it profits from the infrastructure of the Royal Theatre. Large sliding doors in the facade of the small auditorium allow the use of the city as a decor and the theatre as a stage for an open air spectacle on the pier. A grid with technical facilities in the paving stones transforms the pier into a platform for a variety of activities.
Rectangular stainless steel panels clad the roofs, facades and box bases. A precise pattern of perforations has been added in the grid of facade panels, to introduce fresh air and daylight into the workspaces, changing rooms and the loading bay. The entire building also has a second pattern of lighting fittings, made from identical stainless steel panels which illuminate the shining skin of the boxes and transform the theatre into a festive attraction in the evening.
