THE HOUSE WITH SIX SWANS

The ensemble of buildings in Riga, Lāčplēša Street 25, has a century-old history. Here, with the facade facing the street, the building of the Latvian Craftsmen's Mutual Aid Society was built, which marked the maturity of the nation's self-confidence, later turning into an integrated element of the new national body after the First World War. There was also a metalworking company owned by a German-Baltic family in the backyard. Theatre performances were happening here from the first day of opening and during time the theatre grew to fully inhabit the building. The old theatre building with an inner courtyard was very dear to the theatre and the public. The street building housed the main theatre auditorium, and, in the backyard, old workshop buildings were situated which housed a medium auditorium, restaurant, decoration storage, and small workshop. The task for the architects was to enlarge the floor space from 5145 sq.m. to 9767 sq.m. while keeping the unique atmosphere that was already there. All the visible transformations of the building have come from functional necessity – raising the roof above the main stage to allow large and changing decorations; the actor bridge in the courtyard allows the theatre troupe to move around the building without crossing paths with the public during performances, the large building volume in the courtyard houses two new auditoriums and three rehearsal halls. The building is located on a very busy street in the historic centre of Riga. The old entrance was situated directly from the street and without any square where the public could gather before or after the performance. The idea of the architects was to move the entrance to the beautiful courtyard to allow more quieter and calmer entering to the theatre. It also helps to organize the flow of people because the auditoriums are located on both sides of the entrance, so the public can easy reach all three auditoriums. The large historic auditorium is located on the 3rd floor of original building. In the beginning of 20th century, it was designed as very classical performance space with horizontal parquet, sculptural balcony, orchestra space and stage. The space was light with windows. During time theatre developed and changed from musical performances to drama theatre. Stage opening was redesigned multiple times. A fire in 1931 turned the original space in dust. In one year, it was rebuilt as a great art deco theatre space which lasted until the reconstruction. The new reconstruction was planned to carefully restore old dark red pinewood panels of 30’ies, reorganize seating to improve visibility and improve acoustics of the space. Acoustics are tuned to allow for clear actor voice audibility. The two new halls on the east wing are made as a Black box type of theatre space, where stage and spectator seats can be arranged in any way theatre producers can imagine. It allows full spatial freedom to create new and intriguing scenography.