Detroit is a city known for its industrial and manufacturing roots. It had been the beating heart of America’s auto industry and built its reputation with blue collar workers and calloused hands. It makes sense, then, that when it receives an infusion of culture in the form of its very own version of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, some of the city’s industrial charm will rub off on it.
After all, a regular oak-and-thatch replica of the theater just wouldn’t seem a proper fit for the city protected by the likes of RoboCop and Axel Foley. As such, plans for this Globe Theatre, dubbed The Container Globe, call for the structure to be made of, you guessed it, shipping containers.
20-foot-long shipping containers make up the seating galleries for the project. Each container is modified the same way and then stacked three floors high. The containers are fastened together in the same manner as if they were on a container ship.
A 40-foot-long container is placed on a base and modified for use as the three doors leading out to the main stage. A second 40-foot-long container is placed on top for the second floor. The second floor container replaces the three doors with balconies overlooking the stage for actors and musicians. A third 40-foot-long container is placed on top and three other containers are stacked behind to act as the backstage space. Three additional smaller containers are placed behind those for public access.
The stage itself is created with a base and two large pillars holding up a roof. On top of the roof is another container to form the “heavens.” A smaller roof is also placed over this container.
Stairwells, scaffolding, and flooring are added around the outside of the seating gallery containers to act as hallways. The roof is made from standard transparent greenhouse roofing panels and is placed on top of the scaffolding. Finally, the entirety of the Globe’s exterior is covered with an industrial mesh that provides shade and protection from the wind but also allows filtered daylight to enter.
The mesh also provides the benefit of quieting rain by breaking up the drops before they reach the transparent roofing panels below. Depending on whether it is day or night, or if the Globe is lit from the interior or exterior, the mesh will either look like a solid surface or glow from within.
Nicholas Leahy of Perkins Eastman is the lead architect for the project and Michael Ludvik is the structural engineer. Arup will also lend a hand to help with the theater’s environmental performance studies, according to Arch Daily.
The project is expected to cost $6 million. A Kickstarter campaign will be launched in February to help reach this total. To this point, Angus Vail, the project’s founder, as funded the project.
A video below describes in greater detail The Container Globe’s design and construction.
Image courtesy of The Container Globe.
Image courtesy of The Container Globe.
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 22, 2014
Sound selections: 12 great choices for ceilings and acoustical walls
From metal mesh panels to concealed-suspension ceilings, here's our roundup of the latest acoustical ceiling and wall products.
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.
| Sep 2, 2014
Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 25, 2014
Ranked: Top cultural facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Arup, Gensler, and Turner head BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
