Rehearsal building for Ballett am Rhein Story by gmp · von Gerkan, Marg and Partners Architects Rehearsal building for Ballett am Rhein Reheasal Hall for Ballett am Rhein Story by HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions GmbH Reheasal Hall for Ballett am Rhein

Rehearsal building for Ballett am Rhein

gmp · von Gerkan, Marg and Partners Architects as Architects

Building combines restrained gesture with succinct appearance The new rehearsal building for the Deutsche Oper am Rhein ballet company was opened on 4 September 2015 after a construction period of less than ten months. In a consortium with HOCHTIEF Solutions, the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) carried out the new construction on the historic site of the former Rheinbahn depot „am Steinberg“ in Düsseldorf as part of a PPP contract placed by Düsseldorf City Council.


Located between the listed historic tramway depot and housing along Kopernikusstrasse, the compact building provides ideal conditions for rehearsal. The Oper’s approx. 50 professional dancers and the ballet school’s 55 students have at their disposal two ballet rooms with full-size stage dimensions, three smaller practice rooms as well as changing rooms, rest rooms, a physiotherapy room and an apartment for guest artists.


While the architectural expression of the new building is distinctly different from the heterogeneous backdrop created by the houses, giving the place a succinct appearance, the building volume – which recedes towards the south – creates a balance between the adjacent historic Rheinbahn depot and the twelve-meter high block with the stacked ballet rooms to the north.


The immediate architectural surroundings of the new building are characterized by historic industrial use. The architectural style and the associated materials and color scheme make deliberate reference to the industrial character of the place, giving the building its workshop and atelier ambiance.


As a workshop in the sense of an experimental and creative space and as a place of incompleteness in a positive sense, the building is not embellished with a prominent color scheme in the quest for dominance. This approach is continued in the interior – color and materials are deliberately restrained and the walls are left in fair-faced concrete.


The building consists of the stacked, double-height ballet rooms and the associated functional areas arranged on three floors. The conspicuous cantilever of the western façade highlights the building´s access from Merowinger Strasse. Here is the two-story foyer, the glass façade of which defines the entrance area, thus differentiating it from the fair-faced concrete façade of the building. The foyer and the canteen welcome the visitor with generous access space, from where circulation areas lead through the building on all floors. The ballet rooms are accessed via generous entrance areas on the first and third floors, thereby avoiding any disturbance to the ongoing dance rehearsals in front of the mirror walls.


Reheasal Hall for Ballett am Rhein

HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions GmbH as Project Managers

On behalf of the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Social Infrastructure Europe branch of HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions planned, financed, and jointly with HOCHTIEF Building, built a new rehearsal hall for the ballet of Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The public-private partnership experts are operating the ballet theater, their first project in Düsseldorf, in the scope of a tenancy agreement for 30 years.


Together with HOCHTIEF Building's ÖPP Erfurt branch, HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions' Social Infrastructure Europe branch assumed planning and new construction of the rehearsal hall in the area of the former Rheinbahn railway depot in Düsseldorf-Bilk. The new building was constructed according to the plans of the renowned architect’s office von Gerkan, Marg und Partner in a public-private partnership (PPP) between the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia and HOCHTIEF. The project contract volume, including financing, is around EUR 25.7 million. This amount also includes the contractually agreed services for management. The new building was constructed on a previously empty plot of land next to the former railway depot. The City of Düsseldorf provided the land within the framework of a heritable building right. Project company HOCHTIEF PPP Europa is the holder of the heritable building right for a period of 50 years. The tenant is “Theatergemeinschaft Deutsche Oper am Rhein,” which in a long tradition of cooperation between the cities of Düsseldorf and Duisburg also presents ballet apart from opera and operetta/musicals.


Both protected and prestigious. Thanks to its location in the heart of the street block between the former railway depot, which is protected as a historical monument, and the rear side of a housing complex, the new ballet hall of “Compagnie der Deutschen Oper,” managed by the internationally renowned manager of the “Compagnie,” Martin Schläpfer, allows for a great amount of reclusiveness. At the same time, the area classified as protected under a conservation order provides the artists with an appropriate venue for public appearances and a training center: • on some 3,000 square meters of usable space, five halls were built with dressing rooms for 48 dancers, as well as a ballet school with currently 55 students • one of the ballet halls was equipped with stands • the building offers numerous special functions, such as rest area, sauna, or physiotherapy, and contains offices for administrative and artistic management.


These are ideal conditions for a “creative dance factory” with workshop character to develop.


Service, quality and success - in the long term. Construction of the new building took about one year and was completed in the summer of 2015. Within the scope of a tenancy agreement, HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions is assuming the entire responsibility for the upkeep of the new rehearsal hall, such as servicing and repair, inspection and maintenance, cleaning, taking care of the outdoor facilities, etc. for 30 years. The ballet company was able to move in right on time, in order to prepare for the new performance season.

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