Design for the New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague developed instinctively from the urban dynamics of its city centre location, producing a structure defined by subtle volumetric gestures that invites visitors to enter via a ground-level plaza.
Within, the seamless continuation of public domains reinforces the cohesion of a structure which houses four major institutions – Royal Conservatory, Netherlands Dance Theatre, Residential Orchestra and Guest Programming – the whole culminating in a gently curving roofline. In sharp contrast with conventional rectangular geometry, our design proposes a fluid force field of horizontal louvres, which seem to move when graced by light or shade – a unique characteristic affording a playfulness to the façade – articulating public circulation through foyers and sculpted inner atrium, providing tantalizing glimpses onto inner spaces.
