Architecture for culture with impact: Green light for Staatstheater Augsburg
Our design for the Staatstheater Augsburg has received the green light from the Augsburg city council. Back in June, we were commissioned with the renovation of the listed building, originally constructed in the 19th century, as well as for two new buildings. Now, the city council has approved the new plans. With the Staatstheater, a vibrant space for art and culture is being created that merges tradition and modernity while transferring the institution’s architectural and cultural heritage into the future. Completion of the Grosses Haus (Large House) is scheduled for 2029, while the “Kleines Haus” (Small House) will be handed over as early as the end of 2029, a year earlier than planned, and the operations building will follow in 2030.
While the new design builds upon the approach originally pursued by the Achatz architectural firm, it also develops new ideas for how the Kleines Haus will be perceived from externally as well as from inside. The aim is to construct a future-proof cultural building that opens toward the city like a shop window to become a field of experimentation for creative artists, the urban community, and passersby alike.
On the outside, a semi-transparent glass façade wraps around the building like a theater curtain above its stone base. The façade’s curvilinear shapes are borrowed from the façade of the Grosses Haus and the theater hall’s ceiling to establish a link between the two distinctly different buildings. The façade consists of regionally sourced recycled glass whose transparency allows passersby to get a glimpse of the vibrant activity inside. At night, the Kleines Haus transforms into a cultural stage that glows from within.
