The Egg at the Theatre Royal Bath, United Kingdom, top, is an Honor Award Winner in the 2007 USITT Architecture Awards Program.

Photo/Philip Vile

by Barbara E.R. Lucas
Sightlines Editor

Young Vic Theatre in London, above, was awarded a 2007 USITT Architecture Merit Award for renovation.

Photo/Philip Vile

Five theatres in the United States and Europe have been selected for acclaim in the 2007 USITT Architecture Awards program.

Two outstanding projects, both renovations, will receive Honor Awards from the Institute for the 2007 Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Phoenix, Arizona March 14 to 17. The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath, and the Young Centre for the Performing Arts will be featured as part of the Awards Banquet which concludes the Conference.

Three other projects, two new and one a renovation, will receive Merit Awards from the program administered by the Architecture Commission. The Unicorn Theatre and Holland Performing Arts Center are the new structures to be honored with the Young Vic Theatre as the renovation.

All structures considered during the awards process will be discussed during a special session of the Architecture Commission on Saturday, March 17. Several of the adjudicators will be on hand to comment on the process.

Serving on the 2007 Architecture Awards jury were Kurt Schindler, AIA; Clifford Pearson, and S. Leonard Auerbach, ASTC. Mr. Schindler has been with ELS Architecture and Urban Design since 1981 and is the project architect for many of the Berkeley firm's theatre and historic renovation projects. Mr. Pearson is a deputy editor of Architectural Record. He joined the magazine in 1989 and has written on a broad range of topics from projects such as the Rose Centre for Earth and Space by the Polshek Partnership and the Hong Kong International Airport by Foster & Partners to essays on school design and housing. Mr. Auerbach, founder and President of Auerbach Pollock Friedlander and Auerbach Glasgow, has over 35 years of professional experience and international expertise in theatre consulting. His approach to theatre, architectural lighting and sound, and A/V and multimedia combines his background in architecture with the experience he gained in scenic and theatrical lighting design at New York and leading regional theatres.

Details of the award winners -- including location, owners, principal architects, theatre consultants, completion date, and costs -- are:

Honor Awards:

The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath
Sawclose, Bath, United Kingdom
Architect: Haworth Tompkins
Owner: Theatre Royal Bath
Theatre Consultant: AMPC
Acoustical Consultant: Fleming & Barron
Completion Date: 10/2005
Construction Cost: £2,304,805

Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Architect: Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects
Owner: George Brown College and Soulpepper Theatre Company
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants
Acoustical Consultant: Aercoustics Engineering Ltd.
Completion Date: 1/2006
Construction Cost: $10,000,000 CDN

Merit Awards:

New Construction
Unicorn Theatre: New Theatre
London, United Kingdom
Architect: Keith Williams Architects
Owner: Unicorn Children's Centre
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants with CharcoalBlue
Acoustical Consultant: Arup Acoustics
Completion Date: 11/2005
Construction Cost: 10,000,000 Pounds

Holland Performing Arts Center
Omaha, Nebraska
Design Architect: Polshek Partnership Architects
Architect of Record: HDR Architecture
Owner: Heritage Services
Theatre Consultant: Fisher Dachs Associates
Acoustical Consultant: Kirkegaard & Associates
Completion Date: 10/2005
Construction Cost: $63,000,000 US

Renovation
Young Vic Theatre
London, United Kingdom
Architect: Haworth Tompkins
Owner: Young Vic Theatre Company
Theatre Consultant: CharcoalBlue for Theatre Projects Consultants
Acoustical Consultant: Paul Gillieron Acoustic Design
Completion Date: 9/2006
Cost: 6,925,000 Pounds

Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, above, was selected for a 2007 USITT Architecture Merit Award.

Photo/Tom Kessler

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