The building of the City theatre in Haarlem, The Netherlands, started in the winter of 1915. The lack of building material due to the influence of the first world war caused a delay in the building activity. On the 19th of February 1918 the City Theatre Haarlem finally opened the doors.

The base of the design by architect J.A.G van der Steur was a Dutch interpretation of the neo renaissance style. Features of this style are stepped gables, speck stone layers, horizontal lines and cross-bar window frames.

The City theatre of Haarlem is one of the five oldest theatres in The Netherlands.

Light designer Rob Clemens owner of company Clemens Lichtadvies located in Hillegom, The Netherlands started the design based on the following important points; The lighting of the facade must fit with the character and style of the building. No light disturbance for the historical neighbourhood and consume the least amount of energy possible. Another challenge was the mounting of the fixtures; the theatre is registered as a protected monument and for this reason there was a challenge to mount all the fixtures without drilling or causing damage to the facade.

The light design is based on increasing the ambience of the building by giving the attention to details like the two domes, balconies, the shields at both sides of the balconies, the sculpture in the middle on top of the building and the window frames. The material of the facade decided the choice for the colour temperature. In the project a mix of 2700, 3000 and 3500K was used.

The light design enhanced the style characteristics of the neo-renaissance city theatre by bringing the fixtures as close as possible to the objects and created a theatrical atmosphere, the place for having an exciting evening.


Photo credit: Metalmek Lighting B.V.