Laban Dance Theater
London, United Kingdom · 2003
Photo · © arcspace.com
An interior precedent demonstrating how a sculptural, dark spiral staircase and curved partitions can anchor a low-ceilinged concrete lobby while maintaining visual connections to adjacent spaces through large glass walls.
- What we like about this project
- The handrail on the curved black wall is a continuous, light-toned wood element that traces the fluid geometry.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- dark-wood-flooring
- glass
- painted-steel
- molded-plastic
Visual identifiers
- spiral-staircase
- concrete-ceiling
- glass-partitions
- curved-balustrade
- minimalist-benches
Style tags
- minimalist
- brutalist-influence
- contemporary
Visual tags
- lobby
- circulation
- sculptural-stair
- institutional
- interior-glazing
- fluid-geometry
- Geometry
- A low-ceilinged lobby space defined by a raw concrete soffit, contrasted with a sweeping, organic black spiral staircase and a curved, low-slung partition wall that snakes through the space.
- Facade system
- Interior glass partition wall system with minimal vertical mullions.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete flat slab with integrated columns.
- Spatial scale
- A wide, medium-height public lobby scaled for pedestrian circulation, featuring low-profile bench seating.
- Lighting
- A grid of recessed circular downlights in the concrete ceiling provides ambient illumination, supplemented by bright daylight filtering through the glass facade in the background.
- Atmosphere
- Moody and subterranean yet connected, with the heavy concrete ceiling balanced by clean white furniture and transparent glass walls.
- Environmental context
- Interior lobby of a contemporary institutional building, looking toward an exterior glazed wall and internal studio spaces.
- Spatial experience
- The visitor experiences a compressed entry sequence that opens laterally through expansive glass partitions into adjacent double-height studio spaces, anchored by the sculptural spiral stair.
- Composition rhythm
- The horizontal lines of the floor, benches, and partition wall are dynamically interrupted by the vertical spiral of the black staircase.
- Style reading
- Late-twentieth-century Swiss minimalism with organic accents
- Program
- Dance school or cultural arts center lobby
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, dark-wood-flooring, glass, painted-steel, molded-plastic
- Visual identifiers
- spiral-staircase, concrete-ceiling, glass-partitions, curved-balustrade, minimalist-benches
- Style tags
- minimalist, brutalist-influence, contemporary
- Visual tags
- lobby, circulation, sculptural-stair, institutional, interior-glazing, fluid-geometry
- Geometry
- A low-ceilinged lobby space defined by a raw concrete soffit, contrasted with a sweeping, organic black spiral staircase and a curved, low-slung partition wall that snakes through the space.
- Facade system
- Interior glass partition wall system with minimal vertical mullions.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete flat slab with integrated columns.
- Spatial scale
- A wide, medium-height public lobby scaled for pedestrian circulation, featuring low-profile bench seating.
- Lighting
- A grid of recessed circular downlights in the concrete ceiling provides ambient illumination, supplemented by bright daylight filtering through the glass facade in the background.
- Atmosphere
- Moody and subterranean yet connected, with the heavy concrete ceiling balanced by clean white furniture and transparent glass walls.
- Environmental context
- Interior lobby of a contemporary institutional building, looking toward an exterior glazed wall and internal studio spaces.
- Spatial experience
- The visitor experiences a compressed entry sequence that opens laterally through expansive glass partitions into adjacent double-height studio spaces, anchored by the sculptural spiral stair.
- Composition rhythm
- The horizontal lines of the floor, benches, and partition wall are dynamically interrupted by the vertical spiral of the black staircase.
- Style reading
- Late-twentieth-century Swiss minimalism with organic accents
- Program
- Dance school or cultural arts center lobby
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture