LYRIC THEATRE COMPLEX

West Kowloon Culural District, Hong Kong

The Lyric Theatre Complex, designed by UN Studio, combines three theaters into a center of excellence for dance and theater. The Lyric Theatre has room for up 1,450 spectators. The theater is equipped with a large orchestra pit, has a manual under-stage, and a modern fly tower with motorized flybars and pointhoists. The Medium Theatre, with 600 seats, has more or less the same functionalities, yet in a smaller package. The room will be equipped with a multichannel sound system to develop immersive possibilities of sound design for theater and dance productions. The 250-seat Studio Theatre, originally intended as a blackbox theater, evolved during the design into a small proscenium house. Nine dance studios, including a large rehearsal room, provide ample space for the preparation of productions. The dance studios form the heart of the Resident Company Center, a hub for development and collaboration for Hong Kong dance companies and artists in residence.

The project was developed by our colleagues at Carr & Angier in close collaboration with the architects at UN Studio and their joint venture partner AD+RG in Hong Kong. The Space Factory has taken over the theater design and consulting roles during the Design Development phase. The project covers all theater disciplines, including stage machinery, stage lighting, and AV and Media systems that are at the cusp of the rapidly evolving network technologies.

The project is developed along the principles of BIM systems. The Space Factory developed extensive BIM models for the theater technology in the project, and works in close collaboration with the other members of the team on the design coordination.

The Theater building was tendered in 2018, and its construction is now well underway.


Architects — UNStudio and AD+RG
Owner — West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
Acoustician — Marshall Day Acoustics, Hong Kong
Theatre Planner — Carr & Angier with Philip Soden (from concept design through design development)
Scenographer — The Space Factory with Philip Soden (from design development forward)
Construction company — Gammon Construction, with Svetlost Teatar
Construction cost — HKD 3,0 B
Images courtesy UNStudio
Status — under construction