John Cranko School of Dance | Brisac Gonzalez

Perched on top of the hill, partly carved into the ground, partly floating above, the new school emulates lightness. The stage emerging from the ground anchors the building. Stepping down in the landscape, the glazed foyer plays with changing scales from high to low spaces, below a series of suspended rooms, looking toward the city. Connecting with the foyer, a central stair meanders through a large void cutting through the centre of the building, bringing light into its deep floor-plate.

Low on the landscape, the building is wrapped in a facade of folded glass and translucent screens that breaks up its mass. Between day break and sun set, light penetrating through the façades and through the centre of the building change the character of its spaces.