For several years The Shalleck Collaborative has had the pleasure of guiding the planning and design for a phased reseating project at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, the historic Beaux Arts home to the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Opera and several other cultural institutions. It’s not as simple as it sounds when considering among other things the limited available dark times between performances. We completed the first phase of replacing about 900 chairs in summer of 2015 with custom stanchions re-cast from the original.
The next phase is slated to be installed in the Summer of 2021, and will include the remaining 2,000 chairs of various types. We’ve navigated the complex orchestra level layout, circulation and technical issues and put together a design for new chairs custom developed from scratch in collaboration with the City, the tenant organizations, and the seating manufacturer Ducharme. The new seats will not only provide greater comfort and better sightlines but will also allow for greater accessibility. To learn more, please visit the SF Ballet and SF Opera's recent press release here.