Herzog & de Meuron
Laban Dance Centre
Deptford, London

Laban Center is a home for one of the well known schools of contemporary dance, situated in south-east London , in the area of decaying blocks of council flats, scrap yards, and industrial warehouses. However, in building conception, care was given to the analysis of the surrounding when a building position establishes visual relationship with the neighboring church façade. From church’s curved shapes, the curved is drawn and exaggerated as far as possible, becoming defining feature of the primary façade.

There is a strong urban tone to the project and together with choice of translucent material, polycarbonate, for the façade, building seem to “communicate” even more with the urban context.

Connections between different activities in the building are organized to establish a fluid, dynamic relationship between the spaces. The interior is designed as an urban “streetscape”, a series of corridors, interior courtyards and meeting places, wrapped around the main theater, spatial center and functional heart. All those free gathering and open spaces are closely tied to the geometric volume of spiral staircase.

For the façade, Herzog and de Meuron used translucent effect of polycarbonate, which allows for shadow images of dancers to take on important role of Laban’s architectural identity.

Use of color and collaboration with artist Craig Martin was interesting way to ensure that color’s role is taken far beyond simple chromatic value. Use of lime, yellow and magenta polycarbonate panels that are mounted in front of the glass panels give building pale magical glow.

This project brings aspects of transparency and translucency, visual links, circulation and importance of urban context as an important vehicle of design that I would like to investigate.

Bibliography:
www.arcspace.com
http://www.laban.org
http://www.construction.com