As part of Haiti’s restoration following the magnitude-7.0 January 2010 earthquake, President Michel Martelly commissioned a new outdoor amphitheater complex in Port-au-Prince.

The new 5,000-seat, elevated outdoor auditorium complex was part of rehabilitation of the city’s largest public square, the Champ-de-Mars. The existing site included a concrete-framed stage, kiosk, and tiered, on-grade slab seating. The original complex was incorporated into the new design. As part of a collaborative design-build team, Keast & Hood met an aggressive schedule to design and detail the new concrete-framed amphitheater in time for its opening in summer 2014. At the onset of the project, engineers performed a hands-on structural condition assessment of the historic stage structure, which incorporated a unique two-way system of tapered cantilevered concrete roof framing.

Creative structural design balanced seismic retrofit with solutions appropriate for construction materials and methods available in Haiti. Haitian and U.S. building codes were incorporated for future seismic protection. Structural design minimized material usage, avoided specialty fabrication, enabled water collection on site for concrete mixes, and accommodated Haitian labor practices. The collaborative team used its past experience working in Haiti and other post-earthquake environments to make decisions quickly and efficiently.

As part of Haiti’s restoration following the magnitude-7.0 January 2010 earthquake, President Michel Martelly commissioned a new outdoor amphitheater complex in Port-au-Prince.

The new 5,000-seat, elevated outdoor auditorium complex was part of rehabilitation of the city’s largest public square, the Champ-de-Mars. The existing site included a concrete-framed stage, kiosk, and tiered, on-grade slab seating. The original complex was incorporated into the new design. As part of a collaborative design-build team, Keast & Hood met an aggressive schedule to design and detail the new concrete-framed amphitheater in time for its opening in summer 2014. At the onset of the project, engineers performed a hands-on structural condition assessment of the historic stage structure, which incorporated a unique two-way system of tapered cantilevered concrete roof framing.

Creative structural design balanced seismic retrofit with solutions appropriate for construction materials and methods available in Haiti. Haitian and U.S. building codes were incorporated for future seismic protection. Structural design minimized material usage, avoided specialty fabrication, enabled water collection on site for concrete mixes, and accommodated Haitian labor practices. The collaborative team used its past experience working in Haiti and other post-earthquake environments to make decisions quickly and efficiently.

CLIENT: CEEPCO Contracting, LLC
LOCATION: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

TYPE: Athletic, Cultural, Government, International, SERVICES: Condition Assessment, Damage Assessment, Renovation, Seismic, MATERIALS: Concrete, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .