In addition to producing plays at its mainstage in Chelsea, the Atlantic Theater operates a well-known theater school. When ATC was offered new space in a block-long Port Authority owned building near New York City’s Meatpacking District, in exchange for leaving their existing site near the Hudson River, FDA was asked to help the Company plan its new spaces. We worked closely to help balance the requirements of a public theater with those of the school.

Rehearsal rooms and classrooms are located on the fifth floor, and the new 99-seat “second” theater is located in the basement level. This placement gives the theater its own street entrance, separate from the entrance of the heavily guarded office building.

The venue has been designed with 79 permanent tiered seats and 20 additional flexible seats. With 33 feet of width and 31 feet of depth, “the theatre feels intimate, while a 16 foot ceiling allows optimum staging and design possibilities,” according to ATC. The wire rope grid gives the space an easy, safe working environment to allow quick load-ins and change-overs from production to production.