Snøhetta designs a new opera house for Düsseldorf

Snøhetta unveiled its design for Duett Düsseldorf, a new opera house set to become the German city’s new cultural destination. From the horizontal volume containing the new music venue are two sloping towers containing a hotel, restaurants, offices and residential units, creating a multi-level development in the service of Düsseldorf’s arts and culture scene. Neighboring the historic Hofgarten and Rhine park, the ground floor of the project blurs the boundaries between interior and exterior, with a glass facade revealing a cultural wood wall in the foyer, welcoming users to the opera.

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The new opera house replaces the existing cultural venue which no longer meets the space requirements of the program and brings a series of complementary functions to the layout. The horizontal volume houses the opera program with its various amenities while creating a dialogue with the surrounding context. The landscape reorganizes the circulation system, and an urban forest accompanies the route from the park to the main entrance.

From the foyer, a series of stairs and ramps lead visitors to a café where they can see the opera’s rehearsal spaces, which can also serve as performance venues. In addition to the horizontal volume, a rooftop garden accessible from the foyer provides a new layer of public space and is designed to accommodate a wide range of activities, from cultural events to shows.

The two angled towers creating a V-shaped silhouette are designed to reduce shading on the surrounding areas. The laminated glass facade offers different levels of transparency to the interior and exterior faces of the volumes, mainly programmed for hotels, residential units and office spaces.