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Architects: White Arkitekter
- Area: 2000 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Åke E:son Lindman, Anders Bobert
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Manufacturers: Sedum, Skandinaviska Glassystem
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Lead Architect: Anders Arfvidsson
Text description provided by the architects. Skandiascenen is a modern addition to the historic Cirkus theatre, in Stockholm, founded in 1892. The new construction was built into a niche of solid rock on very limited grounds and houses a new foyer, stage and salon seating 800 theatre guests. White Arkitekter’s creative solution was to place large portion of the house below ground allowing the foyers to be placed on two different levels.
The extension is designed with a form that deliberately juxtaposes Cirkus, the existing historical theatre building; hence, consciously designed to possess a form and character of its own – equally reflective of its own period in time. Stainless steel gracefully clads the façade in an overlapping fish scale-like pattern. In its modern ornateness, the silky matte facade adds to the aura of festivity. The gently curved metal façade, with its high curved glass partitions, provides a dynamic sense of momentum when travelling alongside the adjacent Hazeliusbacken hillside. Starkly contrasting the culturally historic main building of stucco and brick, Skandiascenen’s round metal façade allows for the expression of another era.
However different the two exteriors may be in appearance, the interiors of the new theatre are equally as intimate as the original Cirkus. The new salon has a colour palette in shades of red in the same vein as traditional theatre auditoriums. The difference in level between Hazeliusbacken hillside and the new exterior ground at the building front, creates an entrance area that can be used for dining al fresco during the summer.
An advanced load-bearing structure with beams and columns of glass functions marks the entry building. The reasoning behind the placement of a fully glazed entrance at the front of the historic Cirkus was that such a volume would be as unobtrusive, light and transparent as possible. At twilight and evening hours, the older building’s interior facade appears behind the light glass volume while the glass connects down to a natural stone clad entrance area in front of the new theatre.
