The upcoming Flexible Steinmetz Hall on track for a May 2020 debut at the Dr. Phillips Center

The long-awaited Steinmetz Hall shall soon complete the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts’ project in the heart of downtown Orlando. Designed by Santa Barbara’s Barton Myers Associates  (design architect), HKS Architects  of Dallas (executive architect), and Orlando’s Baker Barrios Architects  (architect), the Centre is a stunning glass building that aims to provide locals and visitors access to entertainment and convention spaces. It already includes a School for the Arts, and two performance venues, a 2,700-seat amplified hall for Broadway-class theater events and a 300-seat venue for smaller shows and events. Now under expansion, it will add a 9,000-square-foot gathering area for performers and guests, the Green Room, and a three-tier acoustical hall of 1,700 seats, namely the Steinmetz Hall.

This 720-square-metre venue, the second largest of the Centre’s three performance spaces, will be the new home of the Orlando Ballet, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Orlando. Designed as a modular venue to suit these various performing arts by consultant Theatre Projects,  it will have two primary configurations within the allotted space: a shoe-box concert hall and an opera house styled after classic European halls. The Steinmetz Hall’s flexibility to accommodate these vocations will be ensured through a Gala Venue® transformable seating system,  automatically changing its architecture. While always delivering prime sightlines for every guest and a permanent feel like that found in a fixed auditorium, the Gala technology  will also ensure quick and easy space transformation, within 15 to 30 minutes at the touch of a button. 

Specifically, 21 rows of automated seating risers – powered by mechanical lift columns, called Spiralifts® – will allow for variable theatre’s stage extensions and orchestra pit sizes. More than 400 reconfigurable seats can also be deployed via a rotation system or stored in an inverted position under the floor when not required. With quality custom-designed auditorium seats by Series Seating,  comfort will never be sacrificed at the Steinmetz Hall. To maximize its ease of use and accessibility, the Gala Venue  will further incorporate several hall accessories, such as automated rotating guard rail and access steps, making it possible to convert regular seating to wheelchair space in just minutes.

Scheduled to open in 2020, the unique Steinmetz Hall will be the centerpiece of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts’ second phase. Equipped with a Gala Venue transformation system,  the hall will optimally showcase different forms of performing arts, from opera to symphony to ballet, creating the best event experience for both performers and attendees. This innovative hall has been designed to deliver the best acoustics, for the pleasure of all patrons!