Project Overview

St. Ann’s Warehouse fills a vital niche in New York City’s cultural landscape as an artistic home and d­­estination for the American avant-garde, international companies of distinction, and talented, emerging artists ready to work on a grand scale. St. Ann’s signature flexible, open space allows artists to stretch, both literally and imaginatively, enabling them to approach work with unfettered creativity, knowing that the theater can be adapted in multiple configurations to suit their needs.

Project Commissioner

St Ann's Warehouse

Project Creator

Marvel Architects

Project Brief

Inspired by the tradition of St. Ann’s other locations and the desire to adapt to a variety of programming scales: flexibility was a key design element. We met this challenge by dividing the space into simple geometries that can support overlapped programming and be easily modified to create a variety of staging options. The main theater can be expanded into the generous hallway which runs the length of the main volume. Curtains can divide the space, and catwalks cover the ceiling providing rapid restaging between performances and enabling the use of the entire building for events.

Project Innovation/Need

A triangular shaped park provides a public year-round, open-air park with seating and views of the river and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Though the open garden, visitors enter the formal arched doorway into a vestibule and through to the theater’s main artery, a programmable hallway, and onto the 700-seat theater.

The original warehouse shell was kept intact, restored and preserved. A freestanding steel volume is inserted on three sides providing generous space in addition to the main theater.

Glass brick clerestory was added to the volume to recall the height of a former building on the site and to bring in natural light throughout the volume. It is a complement to the existing brick façade and recognizable as a discrete addition.

Steel and plywood are used throughout the interiors, their raw and natural finishes complementing the exposed remaining beams and original brick.

St. Ann’s has secured its place as a neighborhood anchor in the building of this new home. The design is an innovative reuse of a historic space which preserves and celebrates New York City history while providing a modern, flexible and efficient cultural destination for supporters.