Award obtained – Winner (Future Projects – Competitions), World Architecture Festival 2010

The location of the project is right on an important, albeit underutilized urban square – the Spuiplein. This raises concerns of how to improve activity of this urban room as well as knit and transition the public realm within the Center. The facility itself contains its own range of uses from the semi-public components of retail and box office facilities, transitioning to the performance venue foyers and finally to the five venues themselves. Adding even more richness to the program is that the center also houses semi-private facilities for the highly respected resident orchestra (Residentie Orkest) and the highly regarded professional dance company (Nederlands Dans Theater). Further infused into this mixture is the Royal Conservatory, which itself contains four individual schools (three focused on music and the other on dance).The design weaves a semi-public path through the entire facility revealing the inner workings of what goes into these performances as well as how these artists develop. It is not only about the venues but also the studios, rehearsal rooms, classrooms and even the lounges. The students intertwine with the professionals, which on one level appears to be completely supportive, but in another instance appears like a “battle” on the street. The professional’s in their studios in a duel across the atrium from the respective studios of the students. With a limited site area in comparison to the requirements, facilities need to stack on top of each other. The vitality of the center is interdependent with how the public and semi-public components of the project engage the facility. These three zones become the major organizational and focal volumes in the project.