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Howard Theatre

This is a project by Martinez + Johnson Architecture and it is located at Washington, D.C., United States. Project's program: Restoration and adaptive reuse or iconic theatre. There are eight images for Howard Theatre.

: © The Howard Theatre / Photo: Tim Cooper

Project details

Project name: Howard Theatre
Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Program: Restoration and adaptive reuse or iconic theatre
Area: Project Size: 30,000 sf (Howard Theatre) + 13,000 sf (proposed education center)
Year: Completion: 2012
More details: Project Cost: $21 Million
Client: Ellis Development Group
Project by: Martinez + Johnson Architecture
Others: Interior: Marshall Moya Design • Acoustics: The Talaske Group • Audio/Visual Design: Peltrix • Theater Planning: Schuler Shook • Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company • Project Management: Compass Design and Development • Theatre Operator: Blue Note Entertainment Group • Mechanical Engineers: Metropolitan Engineering • Structural Engineer: Lundy & Franke Engineering • Civil Engineer: Wiles Mensch Corporation • Architectural Historian: EHT Traceries

Project images

Designer's statement

Adaptive reuse of the Howard Theatre as a 600-seat multi-purpose, contemporary performing arts facility that accommodates patrons in a mixture of fixed and flexible seating. New 10 300 SF basement level excavated to house kitchen and support spaces. Proposed second phase for a three-story addition at the rear of the theatre that will house a recording studio, music library, conference facilities and classrooms, rehearsal room, as well as a gift shop and museum.

Built in 1910 and predating New York’s Apollo Theatre by a decade, the Howard Theatre was at the center of a vibrant African American community that flourished from its beginnings through the 1960’s, when the theatre languished and in the 1980’s, finally closed.

Martinez+Johnson’s design approach restores the Howard’s façade to its original 1910 appearance, based on a combination of historic photographs and on-site investigations. The 30 000 square foot interior was rehabilitated as a contemporary performing arts facility. The theatre’s balcony structure was retained, but its sloped floor and entire orchestra level were removed and replaced with tiered seating for 600 patrons in a mix of fixed and flexible seating. The concept, devised by the architects and the owners, Ellis Development Group, was to bring this iconic venue back to life by presenting contemporary artists in an intimate, acoustically superb environment that brings artists and audiences into close proximity to one another.

To make the theatre more versatile and economically sustainable, the architects excavated a 10 300 square foot basement which houses a new 2 700 square foot kitchen to cater the theatre, the supper club, and neighborhood events. To ensure that this iconic theatre thrives, a second phase of this project is proposed as an adjacent educational center that includes recording facilities, classrooms, and a museum.

Because jazz and high energy popular music acts will be part of the programming, the building’s acoustic environment has been carefully addressed by The Talaske Group, with a $2 million state-of-the-art sound environment tailored to offer clarity for patrons as well as for the musicians on stage. The building has been upgraded to be a good neighbor as numerous acoustical treatments will keep sound inside: closing up avenues for sound to escape, inserting heavy interior doors, and the addition of a sound-absorbing inner ceiling should keep the decibels inside the building. Theatre consultants Shuler Shook helped to equip the theatre with new computer-controlled stage lighting and control systems, stage technology, and sightlines and seating studies.