Hudson Valley Shakespeare has opened the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center in Garrison, New York, marking the completion of a six-year project that establishes the company's first permanent home. The new campus, designed by Studio Gang in collaboration with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, expands the organization's long-standing open-air performance model into a permanent cultural and educational facility integrated within the Hudson Valley landscape. Construction began in September 2024 following several years of planning and fundraising.
Located on a 98-acre site overlooking the Hudson Highlands, the project combines performance, administrative, and public gathering spaces within a landscape-oriented master plan. Hudson Valley Shakespeare, founded in 1987, had previously operated from seasonal venues, including Boscobel House and Gardens, where productions were staged under a temporary open-air tent for several decades. The move to the Garrison campus in 2022 initiated the development of a permanent site capable of supporting year-round programming, expanded accessibility, and broader community use.
The theater building designed by Jeanne Gang is organized around a curved mass-timber grid shell enclosing a 451-seat open-air auditorium. The structure frames views of the surrounding Hudson Highlands through the stage opening, incorporating the landscape as part of the performance setting. The material palette and geometry were developed to respond to the site's topography and vegetation while maintaining continuity between interior and exterior spaces. In addition to the 6,800-square-foot theater, the project includes approximately 10,000 square feet of support facilities containing dressing rooms, rehearsal areas, offices, concessions, and public amenities. According to the design team, the expanded infrastructure improves circulation across the campus and allows for a broader range of educational and cultural programming.
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The 20 Most Anticipated Projects of 2026The landscape master plan by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects emphasizes ecological restoration and public access. The campus includes native meadows, restored wetlands, and new planting zones intended to support biodiversity across the site. Pedestrian paths connect gathering areas and picnic lawns to the theater while directing views toward the Hudson River and the surrounding cliffs of the Wey-Gat landscape.
Environmental performance was a central component of the project's design and construction strategy. Sustainability measures include the use of low-carbon mass timber, rooftop photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting systems, and restored native habitats. Hudson Valley Shakespeare stated that the project is targeting LEED Platinum certification, which would make it the first purpose-built open-air theater in the United States to achieve that rating. The organization has also announced a long-term goal of carbon neutrality for the campus by 2040.
The Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center will begin its first full season in June 2026 with productions of As You Like It, King Lear, and Les Misérables. Prior to the opening season, the campus will host a public community day offering tours and programming introducing visitors to the new theater and landscape.
In other recent construction updates, Dorte Mandrup's The Whale continues to take shape along the coastline of Andenes in northern Norway. Meanwhile, OMA's Metropolitan Village, also known as the Taipei Xinyi-Wenchang Residence, is advancing in Taipei's Xinyi Central Business District following its groundbreaking in 2024, with completion anticipated in 2027. In Shanghai, the Snøhetta-designed Grand Opera House is nearing completion along the Huangpu River, where the cultural complex is expected to open during the second half of 2026.
