Vienna Burgtheater

The theatre at the Vienna Ringstrasse, opened in 1888 as "Hofburgtheater" and largely destroyed by a fire in the spring of 1945, was furnished with a new stage after the war. The roof structure above the stage remained in place, but was bolstered by an additional support system to counter the reduction in loadbearing capacity caused by the fire. The rope sheaves of the upper stage driving the decor battens, and their support structure were similarly recycled. At its reopening in 1955, the stage was fitted with new drives that met the requirements of the postwar reconstruction period.

In spite of careful maintenance, the up-per stage showed signs of heavy wear by the end of the 1980s. The stage drives no longer complied with the official safety regulations. Nevertheless, the main reason for embarking on a conversion project for the upper stage certainly was the limitations it imposed on modern stage operations.

In the early 1990s, the owner joined forces with Huneke + Partner, a stage planning office, to start on the design of a new concept. Planning work was based on the premise that a fullscale solution should be achieved; the only acceptable compromise was that the new facilities would be installed in several phases of minimum duration. In order to keep the stage operational as much as possibie, the conversion was implemented in three phases, each executed during the summer break, followed by a mere two-week instailation phase at the end.