Stage at the Square

This project is one component of a renovation to Centennial Square in Victoria, Canada.

We were asked us to rethink the back-side design of the McPherson Playhouse. The existing design included a cantilevered fly tower over the space which created a haven for illicit behavior underneath. The city had fenced off the area. A canopy extension to the fly tower was designed along with an extended platform for outdoor performance use. The resultant construction creates a kind of sound box. Sheathed in pine beetle wood slats, the hollow interior and the assembly amplify music throughout the square. The form is meant to read like a bustle or feather on the back of the stoic masonry building.

Removal of several walls around the area also created a safer experience for pedestrians and forged a stronger link to Chinatown in the next block.