Touchstone Theatre
Transforming a historic firehouse into an intimate community performance space
Location: Bethlehem, PA
Client: Touchstone Theatre
Completed: 1987/1995
After several years as a mobile performance troupe, Touchstone, a bilingual improvisational theater company founded in Bethlehem in1981, needed a permanent performance space. In 1987, the company raised funds to purchase and renovate an1876 firehouse designed by legendary Bethlehem architect A.W. Leh for their new home. Artefact was selected to renovate the 3-floor firehouse into an intimate, 72-seat theater with two lobbies and a rehearsal room.
Touchstone Theatre after the 1995 expansion
Little historic architecture remained in the building, and our renovation radically altered the space for its new use. We removed the existing first floor, locating the (then) black-box theater in the basement, and reconstructed the second floor at a lower height to serve as the new first floor. In the back of the house, a spiral staircase was added to connect the reconfigured floors and basement.
Eight years later, Touchstone acquired two adjacent buildings for further expansion. Artefact came back on board to reconfigure the next-door building into offices, a cafe, and additional rehearsal space, creating penetrations through the shared wall to enlarge the backstage area and allow performers to enter from stage right. The second, smaller building was stabilized and modestly renovated for storage.