Below are some of the architect’s drawings of the Sidney Harman Hall, which is to be one of two theaters for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. They show the exterior of the theater which is being built on F Street facing the Verizon Center, and three of the four configurations the 800 seat house will be able to accommodate. A musical ensemble playing space can also be configured for concert presentations by placing a reflective panel closing off the opening of the proscenium. A.J. (Jack) Diamond of Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto, Canada, was the principal architect for the hall while Josh Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates of New York acted as the principal theater designer and Richard Talaske of The Taleske Group of Chicago consulted on the acoustic design. The theater they have designed will be a four story, sound-isolated block (weighing some 8 million pounds) within an eleven story office building complex which will be the headquarters of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers. It will complete the block which already contains the Terrell Place development using the former Hecht’s Department Store site, the headquarters building of the AARP and the Residences at Terrell Place. Performances are to begin in the 2007-08 season. The Shakespeare Theatre Company has received nearly $61 million toward its $86 million share of the total project, including $20 million from the District of Columbia and nearly as much from the Harman Family Foundation.

A glass front overhangs the sidewalk on F Street facing the MCI Center. The box office and a book store will be at the sidewalk level while audience lobby space is visible above.

In the proscenium configuration the playing area before the 800 seat auditorium will be framed by a movable structure above and on each side of the stage floor. The first four rows can be lowered and stored to create an orchestra pit for musicals.

The hall can be configured without a proscenium so that the playing space is open before the same 800 seats.

The first four rows of seats in the proscenium or end-stage configuration can be moved to the sides of the playing space, creating a thrust stage format