Round House Theatre

Bethesda, MD, USA

Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland is one of the region’s leading regional theatres producing six shows a season including ambitious original work, modern classics and musicals. They reach over 40,000 visitors a year.

© Anice Hoachlander

Originally named “Street ‘70’”, the company was established as a performance-based educational outreach program for the Montgomery County Department of Recreation. In 1993, the institution was incorporated as a non-profit and renamed Round House Theatre after their circular premises. Now, the company has a new space to accommodate their ambitious outreach program that is bigger than ever.

Charcoalblue led the design of the theatre to help the company make their space work harder for them and better reflect their creative ambitions and sensibilities. This included making the space more intimate by removing excess volume and bringing the audience closer to the stage. We have brought the average seat 5 to 6 feet closer to the stage and reduced the distance from the stage to the furthest seat by an incredible 8 feet, creating a much more intimate performance space.

The Roundhouse Theatre stage to the left with a curved wall with white cubes, to the right the wooden seats and the exposed brick wall in the back and the catwalk above.

© Anice Hoachlander

“I thoroughly enjoyed our work with Charcoalblue. They were true partners who helped bring our vision for our theatre and public spaces to life”

Ed Zakreski, Managing Director of Roundhouse

© Anice Hoachlander

© Anice Hoachlander

“While no project of major scope happens without bumps in the road, when those bumps inevitably happened, Charcoalblue were incredibly responsive, adaptive and focused on completing the project to our ultimate satisfaction. I highly recommend working with them.”

Ed Zakreski, Managing Director of Roundhouse

Charcoalblue provided a comprehensive lead service that allowed our Theatre Consultancy team full control of the performance brief. Our integrated acoustics team developed a scheme to improve the natural acoustic quality – a driving force behind the space’s overall form. Further alterations included a flexible trapped seating system and renovations to the back of house support spaces, lobby spaces, and a new Event Room which will allow more flexibility in Event and Gala programming.

The theatre renovation was delivered in just 9 months on site, minimizing downtime in the performance calendar and ensuring the theatre can deliver quickly the important artistic programming to the local community it serves.

Project Details

Client

Round House Theatre

Completion

2019

Budget

Confidential

© Anice Hoachlander

Credits

Architect

Kamm Architects

Lead Consultant

Charcoalblue

Structural Engineer

McLaren Engineering Group

Gary P. Wright

Want to know more, speak to Gary

+44 (0)117 325 9280

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Gary P. Wright

Want to know more, speak to Gary

Contact Gary

+44 (0)117 325 9280