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Aedas designs a new centre in downtown Den Haag for music and dance
The location of the project is right on an important, albeit underutilised urban square – the Spuiplein. 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 it houses semi-private facilities for the highly
respected resident orchestra and the highly regarded professional dance company. 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 building has been carved out allowing square to extend its length into this space underneath
the protected cover. Layers of activities are located at ground level to enliven the space, including
an internet café, a coffee shop, the box-office, the dance store as well as the non-ticketed foyer.
Although external, this space becomes one of the major rooms of the project. The vertical layers
are reinforced by 'mini-stages', a restaurant, a library and the public entrance to the
Conservatory as well as the foyers for two theatres, which face the square.
The Middle Foyer is 45 meters above the Spuiplein and sits on top of the 'table' with the majority
of the project area contained below. The Upper Green - floating above all of this, is the final
semi-public knit to the project, the landscaped roof can be used by all patrons and residents of
the DMC.
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