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
University Buildings | Dec 22, 2022
Loyola Marymount University completes a new home for its acclaimed School of Film and Television
California’s Loyola Marymount University (LMU) has completed two new buildings for arts and media education at its Westchester campus. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Howard B. Fitzpatrick Pavilion is the new home of the undergraduate School of Film and Television, which is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 10 film schools. Also designed by SOM, the open-air Drollinger Family Stage is an outdoor lecture and performance space.
| Oct 3, 2022
The College of the Holy Cross completes a $110 million performing arts center
In Worcester, Mass., a one-hour drive from Boston, the College of the Holy Cross has completed its $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Performing Arts Centers | Jul 5, 2022
Tour the new Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Oregon
This month, the community of Beaverton, Oregon, welcomed a new haven for artistic expression with the opening of Patricia Reser Center for the Arts (The Reser).
Performing Arts Centers | May 10, 2022
A historic performance space is transformed to reinforce a campus’ Arts District
Connecticut College’s Athey Center for Performance and Research at Palmer Auditorium balances the old and new.
Building Team | May 9, 2022
Cincinnati’s Andrew J Brady Music Center transforms the city’s riverfront
In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Andrew J Brady Music Center aims to connect audiences with live music while transforming Cincinnati’s riverfront.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 8, 2022
Cincinnati Ballet’s new center embodies the idea that dance is for everyone
Cincinnati Ballet had become a victim of its own success, according to company president and CEO Scott Altman. “We were bursting at the seams in our old building. We had simply outgrown the facility,” Altman told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
On-campus performing arts centers and museums can be talent magnets for universities
Cultural facilities are changing the way prospective students and parents view higher education campuses.
Giants 400 | Nov 19, 2021
2021 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
Gensler, AECOM, Buro Happold, and Arup top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
