Volkstheater Vienna (AT)
Building in existing structures,
Refurbishment,
Listed building
Client: Volkstheater GmbH
Location: A-1070 Vienna, Neustiftgasse 1
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller with Van der Donk
Competition: 2016, 1. prize
Construction: 2019 – 2020
Area: ca. 600 m² (Total floor area 8.585 m²)
Programme: Reorganisation and renovation of the auditorium, stage area, cloakrooms, foyer, façade
Photos: EMILBLAU / Martin Geyer, Dietrich Untertrifaller
Team
Luisa Dennig, Yakut Dogan, Matthias Fattinger, Elisabeth Graf, Fabian Kompatscher, Axel Laimer-Liedtke (Project management), Benjamin Michels, Michael Porath, Doreen Rehmer-Jeitler, Margarete Sierek
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Project control, structural engineering, building physics: FCP Fritsch Chiari & Partner, Vienna
Building services: Zentraplan, Wiener Neustadt
Electrics: TB Eipeldauer+Partner, Traiskirchen
Stage: Kottke, Bayreuth
Acoustics: Müller BBM, Planegg
Light: Podgorschek & Podgorschek Lighting Design, Vienna
Landscape: Kieran Fraser Landscape Design, Vienna
Master builder: Böhm Stadtbaumeister & Gebäudetechnik, Vienna
Stage machinery: Waagner-Biro Austria Stage Systems, Vienna
Facade renovation: Rudolf Denk, Vienna
New splendour, also behind the scenes
Built in 1889 in the neo-Renaissance style as a bourgeois counterpart to the Burgtheater, the theatre offers 850 seats and the famous Red Salon. The aim of the urgently needed renovation and remodelling work was to offer the audience contemporary comfort, establish modern safety standards and improve efficiency. We therefore extended the stage area, reorganised the audience area and ensured accessibility and safety.
The façade lighting also makes the new old splendour of the building visible from the outside. To improve the thermal quality, the richly structured plaster façade of the theatre was cleaned and renovated in agreement with the Federal Monuments Office. The entire listed building and its original character were retained.
Stage wing extended
The stage area was extended towards Burggasse and a new side stage with a delivery portal was built to ensure smooth delivery, set-up and conversion of the stage constructions. The stage technology has been brought up to the latest standards and now plays all the parts.
Artists' dressing rooms, sanitary facilities and offices have been refurbished, adapted and partially rearranged. The theatre administration has gained additional space thanks to the slight raising of the roof. The new stage foyer with porter's lodge provides direct access to the canteen.
A small porch with a lifting platform connects the delivery and access level with the new side stage and the main stage.
In the spirit of an open-plan building, the previously concealed exits into the arcades have been uncovered and now offer attractive views in and out.
Auditorium reorganised
The lavishly stuccoed surfaces and wall coverings in the Great Hall were painstakingly cleaned and restored by hand, as were the historic light fittings, some of which were even replicated. The new passenger lift connects the ground floor, first floor and basement. Access to the new ticket office and the former driveway in Burggasse have also been adapted to be barrier-free.
The new central cloakroom on the ground floor adapts to the ascending rows of seats in the Great Hall above it. Previously, there were unpopular seats with poor acoustics and visibility.
Rooms in the audience wing have also been reorganised. Where the ticket office, cloakroom and passageway used to be, a spacious foyer with a café now provides an inviting entrance and relieves the main entrance. We moved the box office to the vestibule. The daytime box office is now on the side facing Neustiftgasse.
The Red Bar
The famous Rote Bar on the first floor, originally the intermission room of the Volkstheater, has been a fixture in Vienna's cultural and nightlife scene for years. The unique ambience with crystal chandeliers, velvet curtains, textile wallpaper and marble floor has been lovingly restored. Accessed via the new foyer, it can also be used independently of the theatre.
Restored lighting and façade
We paid particular attention to renewing the lighting. The wall candelabras on the pillars under the balcony and tier, the light in the boxes and the central lighting in the theatre hall were restored and supplemented according to historical plans.
The façade lighting also makes the new old splendour of the building visible from the outside. To improve the thermal quality, the richly structured plaster façade of the theatre was cleaned and renovated in agreement with the Federal Monuments Office. The partially leaking flat roofs, roof terraces and roof domes were also repaired and re-roofed.
Even though much of the work carried out is no longer visible, it can be felt throughout the theatre and will continue to bring joy to staff and visitors for a long time to come.
The safety of staff and visitors as well as accessibility were central themes of the refurbishment work. The theatre auditorium, cloakrooms, escape stairs and red bar were designed as separate fire compartments, the auditorium doors were renewed and additional fire protection portals were installed between the cloakroom and foyer. Access to the new box office and the former driveway on Burggasse were adapted to be barrier-free. A new lift in the audience wing connects the foyer and café on the ground floor with the Red Bar on the first floor. A lift in the stage wing also provides barrier-free access to all floors.
Impressions of the construction site
