GOODMAN THEATRE

RE-ENERGIZING THE LOOP

In a bold move driven by civic pride and artistic vision, Chicago’s acclaimed Goodman Theatre moves to a new, re-energizing home in the Loop next to City Hall and Daley Plaza.

ATTENUATED SITE

The site, just off Daley Plaza, involves building over Chicago’s subway and next to the EL, as well as incorporating the facades of two historic terra cotta vaudeville theatres. The site spans the entire block, necessitating a long, narrow and attenuated lobby.

ROTUNDA/BEACON

A rotunda/beacon, conceived as a great oval room of city scale, addresses the corner and city hall, but because it is not funded within the tight overall budget, it is optioned off to a friendly developer who builds a variation on this vision.

TWO DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT THEATRES

For the remaining project, the two new resulting theatre rooms offer the company artistic and financial flexibility. The main stage is a single balcony, 900 seat ‘Broadway-type’ room with flexible stage apron/pit. The smaller experimental courtyard room is timber frame, highly adjustable and complementary to the main stage as a home for experimental works.