CAMPOS ELISEOS THEATRE RENOVATION AND EXPANSION
Architects: Architecture Studio Santiago Fajardo Location: Bilbao, Spain Collaborator: Architecture Department of the City of Bilbao Blanca BREA, Rosa MUGA Technical Support: Labein Maider ALZOLA, I単aki MARCOS, Beatriz TEJEDA Stage Engineering: GDC Consulting Audio and Video Engineering: Ingenieria CPAA Engineering general facilities: GOYMAR, GE Total Surface area: 7,800 sq. m. Year: 2010 Photography: Estudio Santiago Fajardo and Juan Marinero
PLANTA 1
Renovation and Expansion of Campos Eliseos Theatre The Campos Eliseos Theatre in Bilbao is a curious and novel example of modernist architecture, interwoven with a pre-existing Renaissance Theatre. The original building featured two innovative construction techniques for its time, namely its skeleton steel structure and the faรงade covered in moulded artificial stone. Constructed in 1902 on the site of an urban park, which gave its name to the theatre, the now defunct Campos Eliseos Theatre went through a series of complicated downsizing transformations in order to assure its continuity. This eventually led to the sale and segregation of fundamental parts of the original theatre, which are now formally and structurally part of adjacent buildings. It could thus be said that the theatre was an active participant in the whole transformation process to have taken place on the block. What was finally left of the original Campos Eliseos Theatre was the hall, the interstice spaces and the entrance, the stage house and a small adjoining lateral section to the left of the hall where a stairway connects all levels of the audience. In fact very little was left of this theatre, and if there had been any less one could not view this building as such.
The proposal to convert the Campos Eliseos Theatre into an avant-garde venue has moved us to take the following action:
RESTORATION Restoration of the original building and its relevant elements: façade, hall and original basic structure.
REGENERACIĂ“N FUNCIONAL Regeneration via a functional expansion of the original building which resolved the current problem of limited space to meet essential logistic demands on the theatre's facilities, which in its former dimensions was unable to satisfy. The building has grown stage right by means of an adjoining section annexed from the ground floor of the building next door, providing a separate entrance for artists and technicians, as well as stage house services and part of the facilities for the public on the ground floor. Excavating the basement beneath the hall gained space to install a combined mechanical system of mobile platforms and retractable seats, giving birth to a multipurpose main hall thanks to a robotised system. Above the main hall new space has been gained for administration, technical and training areas. Finally, highly strategic facilities within the theatre, such as the cafĂŠ and a multi-purpose hall, on the upper level, act as complements to the main hall in terms of the functionality of the whole building.
PLANTA 5
PLANTA 6
TECHNOLOGICAL IMPLEMENTATION The implementation of technology related to the equipment in the main hall, stage house and multi-purpose hall, has facilitated the creation of a modern, multi-functional and technologically well-equipped theatre. The main hall, with its mechanical systems combining mobile platforms and retractable seats enable the stalls and stage to be arranged as per need according to the requirements of the event. Furthermore, the range of events that the multi-purpose hall is able to hold can go from theatre, opera and zarzuela- the traditional Spanish operetta, to chamber music concerts, symphonic and pop-rock concerts, including cabaret, or even receptions and dances.
This design is a balance between the unashamedly contemporary with a certain neutrality and compatibility with the pre-existing elements of the theatre. The recessed glass exterior enclosure respects the alignment of the original main faรงade, the protagonist of the whole scene. This inherent transparency further allows an interesting possibility, a display of its renewed vitality, opening up to the exterior in self-representation, or rather, a theatrical display of the theatre itself.
Acting as a separation between the exterior and the hall, the new interstice spaces have been treated in a like manner. These interiors project a serene and unmistakably contemporary personality, resulting in a confirmation of surprise and delight of finding a hidden fruit on the inside: the wonderful, stunning and lively hall of seats.