UNStudio signs contract for the Dance Palace in St. Petersburg

On February 3rd, UNStudio and Grigorjev & Partners LLC signed the contract with the client, Petersburg City LLC, for the new Dance Palace in the historic centre of St. Petersburg, following the success of the design competition in July last year. The project is a 24,000 m2 dance theatre, housing The Eifman Ballet, headed by the prolific choreographer Boris Eifman. The Dance Palace forms part of the European Embankment city quarter master plan for a new urban square in St. Petersburg.  

The Dance Palace in St. Petersburg embraces the rich history of the world renowned Russian Modern Ballet within the historic setting of St. Petersburg. According to Ben van Berkel, “The ambition of the city of St. Petersburg and of our client to proceed with this project is a wonderful example of perseverance. To set up a team with international specialists alongside specialists from St. Petersburg has been quite a challenge, particularly as – alongside all the technical challenges – we have to address the challenges of affordability and sustainability, or what I like to call attainability.”  

In the field of theatre architecture, UNStudio recently also completed the Theatre Agora in Lelystad (Netherlands) and the MUMUTH Music Theatre in Graz (Austria). The studio is currently designing a new theatre for Spijkenisse in the Netherlands.

Visualisations: rendertaxi, Aachen