The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
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The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a next-generation performance venue that reflects Chicago Shakespeare’s multi-faceted artistic vision.
The project features a new flexible theater and glazed two-story lobby and reception space, with magnificent views of Lake Michigan, that connects to the existing theater at Navy Pier. Consisting of 33,000 sf of space, the project introduces a global trend in theater architecture that focuses on resourceful, sustainable, and adaptive design. The new theater is artfully tucked beneath the existing signature white tent and above the existing parking garage. The new theater shares existing stage house and backstage support spaces.
To mitigate glare and heat, the lobby façade uses electrochromic glass. Designed with daylight sensors on the roof, the façade gradually tints when sunlight passes across its southern face. This unique solution is highly sustainable and will reduce heat gain and cooling needs. The geometry of the faceted curve creates dynamic reflections, inviting passersby to interact with the façade, heightening the theatrical experience. The “theatrical” nature of the façade is akin to the raising of the curtain, as it will be primarily tinted throughout the day becoming clearer in the evenings as the sun sets and the performances begin.
Another innovation is the theater’s flexible egress system that allows seating towers to be configured into nine different arrangements, adjusting the range of seating capacity from 250 to over 850 seats. The mobility of the seating towers is achieved through the incorporation of air casters at the base of each structure.
16 apr 18 | Modern Luxury Interiors Chicago
And the Winners Are...
The American Institute of Architects gives the stamp of approval to three very different Chicago projects... MORE
15 dec 17 | Chicago Tribune
Best architecture of 2017: Apple Store, Unity Temple and the Biennial in a remarkable year
With a new architecture biennial, a big Frank Lloyd Wright anniversary and a series of small gems, it was a very good year for Chicago architecture... MORE
19 oct 17 | AS+GG Press Release
AS+GG’s Design for The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Renewing Chicago’s Cultural Resources through Design
The project introduces a new flexible theater and entrance lobby connected to the existing Chicago Shakespeare Theater... MORE
20 sep 17 | Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Shakespeare’s opens Yard with twitchy ‘Toad’
The Yard, an ingeniously morphable, $35 million, fully enclosed structure that now sits almost invisibly beneath the familiar white tent of the former Skyline Stage... MORE
20 sep 17 | Chicago Tribune
Flexible, intimate and innovative, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare has its opening night
Navy Pier is slowly transforming itself from a hyper-commercialized shopping mall-by-the-lake into an appealing public space... MORE
20 sep 17 | Stage and Cinema
Theatre Review: Chicago Shakespeare
The big news is the grand opening of The Yard, Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s state-of-the-arts third theater on Navy Pier... MORE
19 sep 17 | ENR Midwest
Chicago's Flexible, Transforming Theater Space
Architects, engineers and theatrical designers have struggled with the practical limits of live theater since antiquity... MORE
15 sep 17 | Broadway World
Chicago Shakespeare Opens its Third Theater The Yard on 9/19
Introducing a new trend in theatrical architecture, The Yard combines adaptive reuse with innovation in flexible design... MORE
15 sep 17 | Chicago Magazine
Chicago Shakes’s New Venue Will Literally Let People Reshape the Theater Experience
An inside peek at the Yard, Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s malleable new multimillion-dollar venue... MORE
13 sep 17 | DNA Info
Chicago Shakespeare's New Theater At Navy Pier Comes As You Like It
There's now 10 different ways to see a show at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater... MORE
13 sep 17 | Crain's Chicago Business
First look: The Yard, Navy Pier's new mind-blowing theater
The public won't get in to Chicago Shakespeare's $35 million, 33,000-square-foot one-of-a-kind new space until Sept. 19, when James Thierree's "The Toad Knew" opens... MORE
13 sep 17 | Chicago Sun-Times
With The Yard, Chicago Shakespeare sets engineering poetry in motion
In an extraordinary example of architectural, engineering and theatrical re-purposing The Yard marks the transformation of a single, large, underused outdoor venue (Navy Pier’s former Skyline Stage, renowned for its white tent-like “roof”) into an enclosed structure... MORE
9 Sep 17 | Chicago Tribune
Flexible, intimate and innovative, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare has its opening night
Navy Pier is slowly transforming itself from a hyper-commercialized shopping mall-by-the-lake into an appealing public space... MORE
29 Jun 17 | American Theater
The Yard Beyond the Bard
A new lakefront flexible space gives Chicago Shakespeare Theater the room to expand, and not just physically... MORE
8 dec 16 | BuiltWorlds
Building & Designing the Theater of Tomorrow | Project Innovation: The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare
In this episode of Project Innovation, BuiltWorlds dons its hard hats to take you behind the scenes at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare on the famous Navy Pier... MORE
23 jun 16 | Newcity
Stage of the Imagination
Assessing Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Expansion of Chicago Shakespeare Theater... MORE
13 apr 16 | Curbed
A More Detailed Look at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Expansion
New renderings from Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture offer a better look at the new facility... MORE
12 apr 16 | AS+GG Press Release
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture Named Design Architect For The Yard At Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) Design Partner Gordon Gill has been named as the Design Architect for The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, a new flexible theater and lobby that connects with the existing Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier... MORE
2 mar 16 | Chicago Sun-Times
Shakespeare Theater announces $35 million expansion on Navy Pier
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Wednesday announced a $35 million expansion project on Navy Pier... MORE
2 mar 16 | Chicago Tribune
New Chicago Shakespeare stage will transform Navy Pier
Behold the Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. Chicago Shakespeare announced on Wednesday its long-anticipated plans to expand its footprint on Navy Pier and take over the space formerly occupied by the concert and performance venue known as the Skyline Stage.. MORE
