Mecanoo has been selected to create a design for the Dance and Music Centre in the Hague. The exhibition opened on April 20th with Mecanoo’s design and those of 15 other selected bureaus. The exhibition can be viewed until 7 May in the Atrium of the Hague City Hall. The public can voice their opinions on the Culture Forum website.  Three bureaus will be selected on May 21st to compete for the final design.

culture tower
Mecanoo designed the new Dance and Music Centre as a transparent, functional culture tower which  stands as a cultural beacon in the city and rests on a plinth with an elevated park. The theatres and the Conservatory are raised, creating a transparent plinth with restaurants, shops and a two storey entrance hall on the square. Like a grand showcase, the building exhibits all of its cultural functions. This is not a closed theatre box, but an open and inviting building full of vitality; palpable and visible from the Spui Square. The large concert hall of the Residence Orchestra is 60 meters above the square with a spectacular view over the city. Six levels below lies the small concert hall, the heart of music education, with the dance department directly below, both a part of the Royal Conservatory. The escalators located within the facade offers the public a constantly changing view of the city and the building.

Programme: 52,000 m2 theatre complex and conservatory with concert hall (1,500 seats), dance theatre hall (1,000 seats), small concert hall (500 seats), small theatre (350 seats), foyers, offices, restaurants, shops, parking garage for 250 cars and bicycle parking
Client: city of The Hague
Design: 2010
Architect: Mecanoo architecten, Delft
Structural engineer: Corsmit Raadgevend Ingenieurs, Rijswijk
Acoustics, building physics, energy and sustainability consultant: Peutz b.v., Zoetermeer
Theatre consultant: Theateradvies bv, Amsterdam