The Globe Theatre in French Condette by Andrew Todd

In this year, we commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of the death of one of the most famous English playwrights of all time. We often associate the summer months with Shakespearean festivities, where plays are performed in open air at a number of charming locations. However, if you want to fully enjoy the late Renaissance atmosphere, you must visit an arena stage similar to the famous London Globe from the late 16th century.
Andrew Todd is a British architect with an American education. Although he lives and works in Paris, most of his designs are located in England. This May, he made an exception and completed the first permanent Elizabethan theatre on French soil. The circular timber structure is located in the park of Château d'Hardelot in the small village of Condette, near Calais in northern France, where the seventh edition of the Midsummer festival took place at the beginning of summer. The castle, rebuilt in the 19th century in Tudor style, was a frequent visitor for the English writer Charles Dickens.
Todd used exclusively wood and bamboo for the construction of the circular theatre. Although the building references its famous 16th-century predecessors, its appearance and facilities fully meet contemporary requirements. Unlike the Globe, Andrew Todd firmly roofed the theatre in the castle park and, together with the Parisian engineering firm LM Ingénieur and London scenographers Charcoalblue, focused on the ecological operation of the building, natural ventilation, and low energy consumption. The structure is also remarkable from a construction standpoint, as the load-bearing elements consist of bent laminated wood panels. The auditorium provides seating for four hundred spectators on three levels.

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