Steppenwolf Theatre announces Smith + Gill designed expansion

Lincoln Park's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company is looking to expand and has just unveiled its plan to add a new theater building designed by starchitecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture to its campus on Halsted Street.

According to a press release, the new building will house a 400 seat theater, and will replace a surface parking lot and parking garage south of the theater's primary facility. Last year, Steppenwolf began renovations of the neighboring two story building just north of the existing theater, which was formerly a retail space.

This building will become office space for Steppenwolf staff and will also contain the "Lab at Steppenwolf", basically a black box theater for teen and community programming. According to a statement from Gordon Gill, the pair of star architects plan on utilizing a "palette of materials that are of Chicago, and on a scale appropriate for the neighborhood".

From gleaning the renderings, the new three story south building will have a green roof, as well as a glassy structure that will connect it with Steppenwolf's existing theater. There will still be a surface parking lot however, but that will replace the theater's three-tier parking structure that lies just north of the CTA tracks.

No word yet on a timeline, but this news should have Lincoln Park residents rejoicing that one of its most important cultural institutions will soon be adding an architectural gem to the neighborhood.

·Steppenwolf Theatre Company [Official Website]
·Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill Architecture [Official Website]
·Previous starchitecture coverage [Curbed Chicago]