| Background | Following in-depth investigations of the existing building on Heinrich-Heine-Allee, the preparation of a future-oriented requirements program for the opera house and public participation, the Düsseldorf City Council decided on December 16, 2021 in a fundamental decision not to pursue the rehabilitation of the opera house (with the exception of rehabilitation measures to maintain operations). Instead, a decision was made on in-depth planning for the construction of a new opera house of the future and corresponding measures were included.
Following this decision and on the basis of further investigations into alternative locations, the fundamental suitability of two possible locations was analysed in detail in an urban design ideas competition in 2022/23. Based on this result, the Düsseldorf City Council initially decided on the Heinrich-Heine-Allee site and prepared a competition for the realisation of the project in a further resolution on 15 June 2023.
Following changes in the framework during the first half of 2024, the Düsseldorf City Council decided on 27 June 2024 to plan the new opera house at the other of the two locations under consideration, Am Wehrhahn 1, and to adapt the prepared planning competition.
This opens up the opportunity to develop a former department stores' site on the edge of the city centre into a future-proof location for a contemporary opera house and to avoid the risks of developing the existing site. |
| Düsseldorf and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein | Düsseldorf is the State Capital of North Rhine-Westphalia and also the seat of the Düsseldorf administrative district. The city on the Rhine is located in the Lower Rhine lowlands at the transition to the Bergisches Land region. The city area of around 217 square kilometers extends mainly on the right bank of the Rhine and is divided into ten districts with a total of 50 neighborhoods. With around 650,000 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2020), Düsseldorf is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany.
Düsseldorf is internationally renowned as a business metropolis and is centrally located in the Rhine-Ruhr region, a polycentric conurbation that stretches along the eponymous Rhine and Ruhr rivers and lies at the heart of the central European economic area. With approximately ten million inhabitants, the Rhine-Ruhr region is one of the 40 largest regions in the world.
Düsseldorf is also culturally renowned, is considered a fashion and art city and has many museums, galleries, theaters and other large and small cultural institutions. There are also 22 universities, including the Academy of Art and the Heinrich Heine University.
The Königsallee, also called the “Kö”, which is one of the most expensive shopping streets in Germany, and the pubs lined up closely together in the old town are well known beyond the region. Düsseldorf's carnival and successful sports clubs make an essential contribution to the cultural image of the State Capital.
Düsseldorf is a trade fair city and is one of the most important, internationally interconnected economic centers in Germany. Key economic sec-tors include telecommunications, life sciences, business and legal advice and advertising, as well as fashion and the art trade and, still, various branches of industry. The city has particularly close ties with Japan, which is why Düsseldorf is also home to Germany's largest Japanese community and the only Japan town.
The Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg gGmbH (DOR; "German Opera on the Rhine") is a theater association of the cities of Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The events at both venues include not only opera and operetta, ballet, contemporary music theater productions and repertoire for young audiences, but also gala concerts and numerous special events and supporting programs.
Since its foundation in 1956, the DOR has been one of the largest opera houses in the German-speaking world. With its high-ranking ensemble of soloists, the choir and the nationally and internationally acclaimed Ballett am Rhein company, the DOR has developed into one of the top ad-dresses for music theater and dance in Europe.
DOR is closely networked both nationally and internationally: As a so-called "A-House", it is part of the German-speaking Opera Conference, an association of 13 opera houses in German-speaking countries and three associated member theaters from London, Milan and Paris. It is also a member of "Opera Europa", a European network of opera houses and festivals with 233 members from 44 countries (as of 2023), and "opera-vision.eu", an international streaming association of around 30 opera houses from 17 countries.
Existing department store building
Stage and auditorium of the Düsseldorf Opera
© Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Hans Jörg Michel
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| Design task | Immobilien Projektmanagement Düsseldorf GmbH (IPM) intends to construct a new building for the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf - the opera house of the future - at Am Wehrhahn 1 (between Tonhallenstraße and Oststraße) in Düsseldorf city center on behalf of the state capital Düsseldorf (LHD).
The building to be erected will not only fulfil the functions of a new old opera house, but will also have additional uses and functions, including the municipal music school, municipal music library and education areas, on approx. 38,000 sqm of usable area (NUF, plus traffic, technical and construction areas).
The opera house of the future will be a cultural venue for all citizens. Planned are, among other things, two halls with seats for approx. 1,300 (opera stage) and approx. 400 (studio stage) spectators.
IPM and LHD attach particular importance to sustainability, especially compliance with the Cradle2Cradle principle. The explicit planning objective is to achieve sustainability certification in accordance with a system that is also suitable for funding approval (e.g. DGNB). The planning should be carried out using the Building Information Modeling (BIM) method.
The task places high demands on planning quality, including solutions for complex requirements for spatial organization and logistics as well as cost-efficient concepts for construction and operation. |