The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s expansion has added a new multi-format venue, known as The Yard. The relationship between actors and the audience is central to the project, but sustainable and economic values also drive the design. The Yard reuses a portion of the former outdoor venue, Skyline Stage.

Flexibility for the Designers and Directors is at the heart of the project. The auditorium can be reconfigured from a proscenium house, to thrust, traverse and in-the-round configurations. Nine four-story-tall moveable seating towers enable the creation of twelve different stage formats seating between 150 and 850.

Each of the movable towers is similar in size to a London double-decker bus. They are fitted with a full complement of stage lighting and audio-visual outlets that allow for lighting and sound instruments to be placed at each level of the towers. Key to this was carefully designed containment separation of the sensitive power and data lines which were interwoven through the complex steel frame of the towers.

This radical new space enables the company to stage its own large-scale musicals, spectacles, present more touring work, and transfer its own productions from its two existing venues.

This unique project was led from the outset by Charcoalblue. The team included Chicago’s Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture to deliver the building shell and foyer, with Charcoalblue leading the auditorium design and advising on its construction, as well as undertaking the technical theatre systems, acoustic design, and noise control.

The whole project was delivered in 12 months to a tight construction cost of $35m.

Emergency and general power are provided to the towers via a flexible connector and locking plug at the base of each tower. Each have an integrated fire sprinkler system connected by a pressurised flexible hose at the top ensuring that the auditorium is fully compliant with the stringent building code in Chicago. Audience comfort is maintained through an integrated HVAC system that complements the primary air system within the theatre, this is controlled through a Building Management System designed to accommodate the varying configuration and varying audience capacities.

Each tower can be reconfigured by just three people, using compressed-air skid technology, and are slid into position under each corner of the tower. Air pallets were preferred over an integrated system allowing for ease of replacement and maintenance. The floor specification was critical ensuring a very flat surface was allowed for within the design for maximum effect. The ground flatness and level criteria for the floor was specified at FF45/FL35 with a self-levelling epoxy resin topping to meet this stringent requirement allowing for a smooth and low friction movement of the seating towers, a critical requirement as some of the configurations have a tolerance of a few inches from the walls of the auditorium.

The former Skyline Stage was re-purposed for the project. A new technical grid was installed that stretches out into the auditorium where a number of high-level catwalks, rolling beams and suspension points give CST the opportunity to be truly flexible in their artistic ambitions and cope with the ever-changing artistic demands this theatre will put upon them.