The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the new home of the Canadian Opera Company (COC), is Canada’s first purpose-built opera house. The company had dreamed for decades of building its own venue, so when the opportunity arose, every measure was taken to outdo the old rented performance space. Canadian Opera Company general director Richard Bradshaw worked with Diamond and Schmitt Architects to create a welcoming opera house with exceptional acoustics.
Occupying a full block in downtown Toronto, the Four Seasons Centre attempts to blur the boundary between the city and the opera house. The entrance is a four-story, transparent social space called the “City Room,” which runs more than 50 yards along University Avenue. Utilizing structural glazing with low-iron glass, the entire facade hangs from the roof on 1⁄2-inch-diameter stainless-steel rods and is tied back to columns. Horizontal glass girders provide an inconspicuous way to transfer wind load to the structure. The effect is a crystalline openness that, in the words of COC marketing director Jeremy Elbourne, “helps to break down the intimidation factor of attending an evening at the opera.” Elbourne also recognizes it as “a wonderful advertisement for that experience.” Revealing the activity of the audience inside cultivates a new audience outside.
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