Temporary Stage – The Interim Location

The opera and ballet divisions of the Württembergische Staatstheater Stuttgart will receive a new temporary location in the future Stuttgart Rosenstein district.

Already today, the district surrounding the Wagenhallen, which has been renovated by the city, is a vibrant space for art, culture, and community. Together with local stakeholders, it is to be developed into the Maker City urban district – a pilot project for cultural production, living, and working. The so-called interim location of the Staatstheater will form a first building block for the new center of Maker City – together with the Wagenhallen cultural center.

What exactly will be built here? An opera and ballet operation requires far more than just the stage itself. Extensive production and rehearsal rooms, storage facilities, as well as premises for technical services and administration are essential to enable the elaborate productions of the Staatstheater. A portion of these functions will be accommodated at the interim location.
After the Staatstheater vacates the premises, parts of the new buildings will continue to be used for cultural production, workshops, living, and working. These uses are integral to the urban development concept of Maker City.

The centerpiece of the alternative venue is the auditorium, which seats approximately 1,000 people, along with the stage tower—over 30 meters high—and the lobby. These structures are designed to be fully demountable, thus adhering to the principle of circular construction. They are planned in such a way that they could be reused at another location.

Project Status

Currently, the City of Stuttgart is preparing the development of the site. The basis for this are the results of the open international urban planning competition Rosenstein from 2019.

With a resolution in May 2022, the city council commissioned the planning for the buildings of the interim location of the Staatstheater and Maker City, up to and including the draft design phase.

In October 2022, the Europe-wide architectural realization competition was announced. A total of 20 submissions were received for the competition. In June 2023, the design by a+r Architekten GmbH, Stuttgart, in collaboration with NL Architects, Amsterdam, Netherlands, was selected.

In summer 2024, ProWST took over the project from the state capital Stuttgart. The key specialist planners were publicly tendered and commissioned by autumn 2024.

Over the past few months, the project team has developed a more compact yet functionally viable alternative venue. Among other things, the floor space has been reduced by nearly 40 percent. The schedule remains on track thanks to a simplified construction approach for the building sections.
According to the current rough schedule, the WST is expected to begin using the facility in 2033. The theater’s regular repertoire can be maintained during the ten-year run at the interim location.