Theater Lab, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
Retrofit Team
Architect: RCG Architects, Baltimore
Materials
Above the theater entrance on the Terrace Level, Cambridge Bead stainless mesh is welded onto angled framed panels to mark the venue’s name. Inside, Cubist mesh fabric serves as an effective visual light terminus on the perimeter of the theater’s back wall. It masks overhead components and serves as a temporary cable tray for production. Cambridge Architectural designed a custom track system to hang the mesh.
The Theater Lab is the second Cambridge Architectural project at the Kennedy Center. In 2009, Cambridge Bead mesh was woven onto U-bar frames to provide elegant stairway railing infills leading to the entrance of the 324-seat Family Theater where the Performances for Young Audiences series is staged. Complementary wall sconces using Cambridge Architectural’s Tweed pattern accent the stairway and entrance area at the Foyer Main Level.
Mesh Manufacturer: Cambridge Architectural
The Retrofit
The 388-seat Theater Lab, built in the Kennedy Center’s former black box theater space, is home to “Shear Madness”, the comedy whodunit now in its 27th season.
PHOTO: Cambridge Architectural