Theater on Orlí

place
The plot of the Theatre on Orlí is located in the historical core of the city of Brno, on Orlí street, near the Měnínská Gate. The construction site is a gap created by the bombing of two apartment courtyard houses at the end of World War II. Historical cellars were located on the plot, which have been preserved, integrated into the new building, and utilized.

brief
The Brno ART Academy JAMU has long sought its own teaching theater focused primarily on musical disciplines. The plot on Orlí street in the historical center of Brno, close to the other teaching spaces of the school, was seen as ideal for the placement of a new modern school theater. In accordance with the regulations of the urban heritage reserve, a public architectural competition for the new building of JAMU was announced in 2003 based on this intention.

concept
The aim was to design a modern functional theater, a workplace for students and teachers of JAMU. The design is based on the function of the building and its location in the city center. The final appearance of the building was significantly influenced primarily by the construction site - the densely built historical center of the city - therefore the building is designed in the spirit of economical urbanism so that it does not occupy the entire construction plot, thus allowing future access to Jánská street through the interior block, which awaits rejuvenation and opening to the public. The original, predominantly Baroque, historical cellars are preserved, and the building is designed above them. The historical cellars are accessible to the public as a wine bar.
The building's program, content, and specific operation were important for the building's design - a musical theater for teaching students, but also accessible to the public. This is reflected in the proposed two volumes of the building: the street part accessible to the public, which is lower, is based on the street's scale and visually connects to the neighboring buildings; the second higher volume with the theater hall and teaching spaces is designed as a "natural block" - a building partially covered in greenery.
It is important to open the building to Orlí street to liven up this part of the center. Therefore, an outdoor vestibule is designed in connection with the street level, from which there are entrances to the individual operational parts of the building: theater, café, school. The vestibule expands the street and gives the building airiness, while also creating an entrance space to the theater, a meeting place for people, and serves as a covered summer garden for the café.

architectural and operational solution
The proposed new building of the Theatre on Orlí consists of two volumes. The street part is lower, based on the street's scale. The second volume is designed as a “natural block” - a building partially covered in greenery. The outdoor vestibule follows the street level, from which there are entrances to the individual operational parts of the building.
The main space of the JAMU building is the theater hall. For visitors, the hall is accessible from a two-level foyer, oriented towards Orlí street. Another space intended for the public is the café on the ground floor of the theater building with a summer garden in the open vestibule. From the café, the historical cellar spaces from the Baroque period, which will be used as a wine bar, are accessible. In the back part of the building, the operational facilities of the theater are located, including dressing rooms, classrooms, and rehearsal rooms. In the basement, a modern recording studio is designed, intended for teaching as well as for external music ensembles.
form and color
The facades and front of the building are composed of large-format suspended concrete panels. The street facade consists of white panels made of graphic concrete using white cement, laid horizontally. The horizontal division of the façade is supported by an inserted strip window that visually connects the theater foyer with the street. The façade is enlivened by graphics that derive from the musical content of the theater and symbolize notes transcribed into a keyboard schematic. The graphics are made on the panels using the graphic concrete technology, just like the sign with the theater's name. On the recessed part of the building, which will be covered with climbing greenery, concrete panels with black pigmentation are used.
The exterior of the building is in neutral colors, with accents of white on the street façade and black on the back volume of the building, highlighting the difference in operations inside the building. The black façade is enlivened by colored metal panels in shades used in the interior. The authors applied color primarily in the interior, where individual spatial sections of the building are color-coded, corresponding to the various operations of the theater, thus facilitating visitor orientation: the section facing the street (three-level foyer) is red, the middle main section (theater hall, rehearsal rooms, café) is black and gray, and the rear section (building facilities, dressing rooms) is ochre.

construction and technology
The supporting structure of the building was chosen to be a reinforced concrete skeleton. It is a special construction made of steel elements with a concrete core and reinforcement, which is prepared in a factory and assembled at the construction site like a kit. This technology was designed primarily for the lightness and dimensional efficiency of the structure, which is suitable due to the small footprint, proximity to historical buildings, and the existence of historical cellars under the building. Another advantageous aspect of this technology is the high quality, precision, and speed of construction - the assembly of the skeleton took place within a few weeks. The walls of the skeleton are made of acoustic ceramic bricks. The basement is designed as a reinforced concrete “white tub”.
Throughout the building, an intelligent building electrical installation is installed. All terminal elements, such as lighting fixtures, windows, blinds, doors, theater technologies, heating, or air conditioning are centrally controlled electronically.
The building is designed to operate in an energy-efficient mode. Thanks to excellent thermal insulation of the building envelope and the use of high-quality double-glazed windows with HEAT MIRROR film, thermal losses are minimized. A green roof, greenery on the façade, and external shading of the windows contribute to a good climate in the interior spaces. Operating costs for heating and cooling the building are significantly reduced by the installed air-to-air heat pumps and air conditioning units with heat recovery. This achieves the parameters of a low-energy building.