MET Architects

Description

The six-storey hillside building of the Basel Vocational College (BFS), built in 1960, houses a theatre hall on the lower floors. MET Architects won the planning competition for the renovation in 2016. The technical necessity of a renovation offered the opportunity to open up the theatre hall, which was originally used exclusively by schools, to third-party users such as theatre groups and clubs, thereby making it accessible to a wider public. The structural modernisation of the hall and its designated future use are exemplary for the use-oriented redensification of historic city centres and for the creation of public property for the local community. This required a transformation on four levels: legally, with fire safety adaptations that allowed for increased occupancy up to 400 people and thus new event formats; technically, with contemporary facility, media and stage technology for high-quality visitor experiences; normatively, for example adapting the guardrails to current safety standards. And last but not least, atmospherically, with precise structural interventions and a selection of materials and colours that tie in with historical findings and transform the sober spatial atmosphere of the construction period into a joyful spatial (theatre) experience.