Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay | Arts & Design | Attractions

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Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (??????) is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore. Taking its name from the nearby Esplanade, it contains a 1,600 seat concert hall and a 2,000 seat theatre

for the performing arts.
The library@esplanade is located on the third floor of the building. There are outdoor performing centres, and retail and food space at the Esplanade Mall. There is an outdoor open space on the fourth floor of the building.

Design

The building was designed by two architectural firms working in conjunction: by DP Architects (DPA) of Singapore and the London-based Michael Wilford & Partners (MWP), although the latter left the project in May 1995. The original design, presented to the public in 1994, consisted of unadorned glass cases over the theaters, and initially elicited criticisms from the public, including calling it "two copulating aardvarks". Critics also accused that the design is insensitive to Singapore's location and climate as it would have created a greenhouse in the tropical climate of Singapore, but according to DPA director Vikas Gore some form of shading was always intended, and a cladding of aluminum sunshades was added to the final design. The unique architectural design has been said to have an appearance similar to either a durian (a tropical fruit) or the eyes of a fly. Many Singaporeans casually refer to the Esplanade as "The Durian".

Facilities

The Esplanade contains world-class performing spaces, coupled with a wide range of professional support services and facilities. Other than performing venues, the Esplanade also contains meeting venues, as well as other lifestyle and arts related services. The main highlights of the Esplanade - the concert hall and Theatre, are connected to the main concourse via a foyer, while the Esplanade Mall is accessible through an entry point located between these 2 halls.

Concert Hall

It's a venue for concerts, recitals, and other performances. There are only five other halls in the world with such state-of-the-art acoustics.

The orchestral platform is able to hold up to 120 musicians. Above it is the movable acoustic canopy, which is comprised of three pieces, each weighing 17 tons. This canopy serves the purpose of a sound reflector, both to get the right acoustics to suit the ongoing event, and also to enable musicians to hear themselves on stage. As such, the hall can cater to a diverse range of musical performances.

The hall's reverberation chamber, used to vary the acoustic characteristics of the Hall, is an open void that spans three levels and has a volume of 9,500 cubic metres, or about the volume of four Olympic-sized swimming pools. It boasts 84 computer controlled doors and flaps. Each door weighs between 3 to 11 tons, with the largest door being 10.5 meters in height and the smallest door being 2.2 meters tall. This chamber is hidden behind mahogany timbre ribs that frame the front walls of the Concert Hall.

The concert hall's Pipe Organ comprises 4470 pipes and 61 stops. It was custom designed and built by Johannes Klais Orgelbau, one of the world’s renowned organ-builders.

The Concert Hall is able to comfortably seat 1,600 people over four levels in an intimate setting. Types of seats include Stalls, Foyer stalls, and Circles 1, 2, and 3. There are another 200 seats in the choir stalls behind the concert hall stage, which may be converted into Gallery seats for an additional 200 people. There are also four exclusive VIP Private Boxes, which provide a close-up view of the performances.

Theatre

The Esplanade's 2,000 seat Theatre is a form of an adaptation of the horseshoe form of a traditional European opera house. Spread out over four levels, it is designed for all genres of the performing arts, including but not limited to Asian and Western arts, Musicals and plays, classical, traditional and contemporary forms and advanced multimedia performances, whether they are large scale, or intimate in size.

The Theatre is home to Singapore’s largest performing stage (39m length x 23m width), and this caters for a diverse range of performances. There is a main stage and two ancillary stages of similar size to facilitate technical set-ups and quick scene changes. The main stage is framed by an adjustable proscenium arch, allowing the stage width to be adjusted from 12m-16m. There is also a 30m high fly tower, as well as an adjustable orchestra pit that can hold up to 100 musicians.

Although the theatre is considered large with 2000 seats, the viewing distance between the furthest seat and the stage is just 40m, thus allowing patrons a clear view of what's going on on stage.

Recital Studio

The fan-shaped Recital Studio is able to contain 250 people and is a good venue for small scale and intimate chamber musical performances, as well as presentations and meetings. In addition to its timbre flooring, the studio’s wall and ceiling finishes are designed in order to ensure good acoustics. The Studio is also commonly used as a rehearsal space for orchestras and choirs.

Theatre Studio

The Theatre Studio, with a capacity of 220, is a small setting for experimental theatre and dance presentations. The performance space, equipped with movable and retractable seating, offers a wide variety of configurations . Although small, it is equipped with adaptable staging, lighting and sound systems, therefore enabling it to accommodate different kinds of performances. As it is approximately the same size as the Theatre stage, the Theatre Studio is also commonly used for full production rehearsals.

Jendela

Jendela means window in Malay. The Esplanade Jendela is a 215sq m exhibition space on the second level dedicated to the presentation of the visual arts. With a distinctive architecture and panoramic views of Marina Bay, the Jendela hosts many art exhibitions, some of them which are full scale shows that are integrated with other events at the Esplanade. It showcases works by local, regional, as well as international collections.

library@esplanade

The library@esplanade, located on the third floor, is Singapore's first public library devoted to the arts scene.

Outdoor Venues

The Esplanade features two outdoor performing venues. They are the Waterfront Stage and the Stage@Powerhouse, located along the promenade. These venues stage regular free performances, meant to liven up the arts scene. Other than that, the building also features a large roof terrace with a panoramic view of Marina Bay and the city area. There are also courtyards and open spaces which can be used for various activities.