esquisse one (final)

A Theatre in the Suburbs - Cultural Intervention and School Renewal for the Community / The framework for esquisse one was developed from the work of Herzog and de Meuron. H&deM produce “architecture for architects”, in ways analogous to “the actors’ actor”, using a series of obscure and abstract formal moves, often beyond the realms of public understanding. Such moves collapse all architecture to the surface, not just as an ornamental facade, but as a play on volume, light/shade, depth and materiality. Such work questions the conflictual relationship between meaning and representation in architecture. Using the H&deM architectural approach as a template, what would be some equally obscure moves for the design of a small theatre within the residential and school neighbourhood of Stanmore (inner-west)? Notions of “front” and “back” are evident with the site sitting between the wide Middleton St (front/residential street) and the skinny College Ln (back/garages). Embedded within the residential fabric, a front of house entrance and lobby is placed as a typical suburban house would as a play on the notion of ‘front’. Aligned with property boundaries, using the hipped roof typology, and addressing the street frontage directly, the volume becomes abstracted with a series of obscure moves which creates tension within its context. Firstly, there are no entries, openings or apertures at the “front”. The entrance is curiously placed on its side elevation, ramped down inbetween the new volume and the existing suburban house. The wall becomes a threshold, and all punctures to the skin are reduced to the folding planes of the roof. The surface is envisaged as a seamless envelope, folding rather than the colliding of elements. Secondly, the hipped roof geometry is off-centre, its peak asymmetrical, and the walls raised and lowered marginally at its points. Thirdly, the openings are further extrapolated from the suburban roof typology. The suburban sprawl images of Andrew Merry (“boombergs”) provide the base for a pattern-making process. The openings are positioned predominantly in the north-east corner for high contrast of light and shadow, providing porosity to the building envelope. The entry volume becomes a point of tension, an object part of and separated from the residential street. Its presence, in combination with the adjoining house, also masks the presence of the theatre sunken down the natural topography behind (3.6m drop from street-to-lane). The theatre is one large space for performance and general use/teaching. Upper level gallery spaces wrap around its perimeter for teaching and informal meetings. Curtains are used for temporary partitioning of the space and flexibility. The laneway provides direct service access. The esquisse provides a case study into notions of cultural renewal, suburban intervention, and the school as a plug-in to the community.