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Esplanade
celebrates its opening on Octorber
2002.
Located
by Marina Bay, near the mouth of the historic Singapore River and facing
the dramatic Singapore City Skyline, the $600-million Esplanade- Theatres
on the Bay is to be opened on 12 October 2002. The opening of the largest
performing arts centre in Singapore is expected to bring the nation to
the forefront of the international art scene.
The Esplanade
consists of a concert hall, a performing theatre, 3 studios, an outdoor
performance area right at the edge of waterfront and a three-storey shopping
mall. With the opening of Esplanade, the public can come to the Marina
Bay to enjoy the art performances, as well as for leisure and family activities.
The focus
point of this landmark is the two main theatres roofed over by two glass
domes which are held together by a steel space frame. To reduce the level
of solar gain entering the building, sleek looking aluminium sunshades
were designed to cover the top of the glass domes. Wrapped by the sunshades,
the two halls appeared floating up above the ground, signifying its cultural
important in Singapore.
Earthy
Interior
In contrast to the ultra modern and solid appearance of the exterior,
the interior of Esplanade is earthier. Vikas Gore, project director for
the Esplanade from DP Architects, describes the contrast?"In terms
of the interior design, we wanted to develop a building that is rooted
to the soil, to counter-weight the high-tech looking aluminium cladding
on top. It was like a Ying and Yang relationship."
Gore is
a director of DP Architects, one of Singapore's largest architectural
firms. It has completed numerous large projects such as Suntect City,
Pontiac Marina, Bugis Junction, Novena Square and Wisma Atria.
DP Architects
has been working with DP Design, a subsidiary of DP Architects, for the
interior design of Esplanade.
When The
Esplanade Co. Ltd. wanted to appoint an interior designer for this project,
DP Architects said that they would rather undertake the interior design
themselves, as they felt that the interior design of this type of building
was integral with the architecture.
Gore said,
"Here the interior designers and architects work together as one.
It is hard to pinpoint where the input of the interior designers stops
and where the architects start thinking like designers."
Based on
the design concept of creating an earthy tone and welcoming atmosphere,
the architects have adopted natural materials and warm colours throughout
the interior of the whole building. In the Concert Hall, the timber ribs
that stretch from the ceiling to the side evoke a warm and enclosed atmosphere.
In the public concourse, the large, matte sandstones tiles covering the
walls resonate with the flowing tan granite pattern on the floor, creating
a visually soothing, natural feel.
In the daytime,
the sunshades will create stunning patterns of light and shapes on the
sandstones walls, forming an ever-changing painting of reflections and
shadows.
Unique
Structure
The contemplative mood at the ground level is abruptly terminated as visitors
walk up the staircases to the foyer. From the staircase, the delicate
web of steel and glass that constitutes the dome can be appreciated at
close range, creating visually dramatic impact.
"A
lot of space in the building is so dramatic in itself that you don't need
much secondary decoration. It is the volume of the space that allows the
architecture comes through," Gore comments.
The combination
and contrast of the steel frame across the space and the profusion of
earthy tones on the ground level lends a certain timeless and abstract
feel to the place.
Over the
glazing, the aluminum sunshades that follow slowly changing patterns have
added an accent to this visual feast. Appearing close on the top of the
building and gradually left open on the side, the sunshades open to varying
degrees depending on the angle of the view. This changing distribution
of the sunshades screens offers an unobstructed view from inside while
also blocking out much of the sun. Through the glazing and the sunshades,
visitors can enjoy the breathtaking view of Marina Bay, creating a sense
of spaciousness.
The earthy
tone is interrupted in one place: the area behind the reverberation chamber
doors in the Concert Hall which is painted dark blue. When these doors
at the higher level of the hall are open, accented with low lighting,
the doors look like they open up into the night sky.
Concert
Hall & Theatre
The 1,600 capacity Concert Hall is designed to be one of world's premier
performing venues for music. It is built with the latest technological
equipment and the finest acoustics. With one of the biggest reverberation
chambers in the world, the Concert Hall is capable of creating a vast
sound. The acoustic canopy over the hall serves to reinforce the sound
for the performers. It can be raised or lowered to accommodate large or
small performance groups. While the surface of the walls in the hall are
quite reflective to sound, acoustic curtains that come out on tracks serve
to absorb sound and completely change the acoustic effect of the hall,
if so desired. With the state-of-the-art technological equipment, the
Concert Hall can be tuned in different ways to suit all kind of music
performances.
The 2,000-seat
Lyric Theatre next door has a main stage with a fixed curved proscenium,
an adjustable proscenium arch and orchestra pit that can hold up to 95
musicians. It is also equipped with two full-size ancillary stages and
a 30 m high fly tower. Designed in traditional horseshoe form, each seat
in the theatre has a direct sign-line to the stage.
Spanning
over 8,000sqm and three storeys, Esplanade Mall offers an exciting and
diverse retail mix from fashion to flowers, home decorations to arts memorabilia.
Art lovers can also look forward to more reading and audio-visual materials
at library@esplanade, situated on the third floor and spread out over
2,300 square meters. Visitors can also enjoy a dinner at restaurants or
cafés by the waterfront.
Orientation
Orientation to and inside the building is a simple matter. The visitors
coming to Esplanade by train through Raffles Link will enter the Esplanade
through an air-conditioned underpass that leads to the lobby below the
main entrance located on Esplanade Drive. Then they take the escalator
up to the main entrance concourse; walk up the stairs to entrance hall,
past the lift lobby and into Esplanade Mall. If visitors want to have
a good view to appreciate the building, they can also take an exit from
the underpass and walk up to the street level, and then enter through
the main entrance.
There is
a second entrance to the theatres located on the Raffles Avenue, leading
to the Esplanade Mall.
The architects
have taken advantage of the space underneath the Esplanade Drive by turning
it into an ample underground carpark. A distinct path of blue lighting
on the ceiling along the certreline of the carpark leads visitors to the
basement lobby.
While innovation
can be hard to accept for some, the spiky appearance of the cladding has
invited criticism from the public. Gore doesn't mind the criticism, "I
take criticism as part of the game. We didn't want to design a conventional
building from the start. When you design something that is not conventional,
controversy can be expected. And if it is not controversial you've done
something wrong."
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