LA SALA MÁGICA

FIRST PRICE

The theater’s renovation project revolves around one essential intervention: the complete transformation of the stage area, understood not only as a technical space, but as the conceptual and operational core of the new theater. The old stage area, limited in height, capacity, and technical possibilities, is replaced by a large-scale, contemporary structure that expands its functions beyond the traditional stage and challenges the classic front-of-the-line auditorium model.

Thanks to a system of metal trusses in the roof, a continuous, accessible technical grid is created that extends throughout the auditorium, allowing scenic, lighting, and sound elements to be suspended at any point and the space to be configured freely and flexibly. Complementarily, the project incorporates a raised access floor using mobile platforms that cover both the stage and the audience area, enabling rapid level adjustments, reconfiguration of the seating, and the creation of multiple spatial arrangements and viewing angles depending on the type of event.

This comprehensive approach breaks with the traditional separation between stage and technical areas, extending production control and customization to the entire venue and fostering greater real-time interaction between technical aspects and the performance. This is complemented by a completely renovated logistics infrastructure, with front access for loading and unloading, as well as facilities adaptable to a variety of uses.

All these strategies are integrated while respecting the heritage value of the original building, transforming the theater into a 21st-century cultural infrastructure: flexible, adaptable, universally accessible, and capable of hosting a wide range of events, with a clear commitment to open and democratic urban development.

Location:  Cartagena
Client:  Ayuntamiento de Cartagena
Scale:  L
Program:  theater
Status:  project

Architecture: meii + Pedro Pitarch

Team meii: Elvira Carrión, Jose Mª Mateo, Javier Albacete, Andrea Sanabria, Juan Antonio Abril

Engeneering:  Socotec