Built Into a Tower Beside the Orpheum
The Annex, also known as the Orpheum Annex, sits on the 2nd floor at 823 Seymour Street, set into the base of the Capitol Residences tower directly next to the historic Orpheum. It was designed by Bingham + Hill Architects for clients Wall Financial Group and Macdonald Development Corporation as a multifunctional rehearsal, studio, and theatre facility, with the project completed around 2010 to 2011. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra launched its Symphony at the Annex series here, opening with an inaugural new-music concert in February 2012.
A Cabaret Room for New Music
The Annex is a cabaret-style space suited to lively dance and contemporary musical performances, along with receptions and rehearsals. Programming runs from long-established music festivals to one-off jazz ensembles, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra uses it as a home for contemporary, avant-garde concerts, with Symphony at the Annex premiering works by composers such as Magnus Lindberg and Salvatore Sciarrino. It was built to give small arts companies a place to perform and rehearse.
Flat Floor to Tiered Theatre
The room converts from a flat floor to tiered theatre seating for roughly 191 (the partner theatre-design firm DWD lists 193 seats in studio configuration). It uses telescoping retractable seating, adjustable acoustics tuned to host full Vancouver Symphony Orchestra rehearsals and recording, and interchangeable black and red stage drapes, with fiery red curtains enclosing the performance space. A high-level cable-grid lighting "floor" allows fast lighting changeovers, and the facility includes a prefunction lobby, greenroom, and storage.
Part of the Civic Family
The Annex is one of the live-performance venues operated by Vancouver Civic Theatres, the City of Vancouver agency that also runs the Orpheum, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and Vancouver Playhouse. As an intimate, flexible studio-scale room beside the much larger Orpheum, it gives small arts companies and experimental programming an affordable downtown home for cabaret, contemporary classical, jazz, and rehearsal use.