Studio Gang Opens a Theater Shell in the Hudson Valley

May 14. Studio Gang completed the Samuel H. Scripps Theatre in Garrison, New York, for Hudson Valley Shakespeare. The building sits on 98 acres, opens to the surrounding valley, and is wrapped in a mass-timber shell.

The structure is pavilion-scale. The timber shell covers an open-air stage, audience seating, and backstage support spaces. The framing reads cleaner than most theatrical builds. No proscenium, no flyspace, no heavy curtain infrastructure. The design assumes summer repertory, outdoor air, and a sightline that includes the valley.

Mass timber is the structural tell here. Cross-laminated timber panels span the roof; glulam beams carry the shell. The material choice signals a specific kind of commission: institutional client, environmental angle baked in, architect with a CLT track record. Studio Gang has used mass timber on prior projects (the Richard Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Chicago's Keller Center). This one follows the pattern.

The site matters. Garrison is an hour north of the city, close enough for weekend visitors, far enough to register as upstate. The valley framing is the draw. The theater opens west; audiences face the hills during performances. That sightline is half the architecture.

The building type is rare. Purpose-built outdoor Shakespeare theaters are uncommon in the U.S. outside of festival circuits. Most companies use adapted spaces or temporary structures. A commissioned pavilion with a timber shell and a permanent footprint is a different budget tier entirely.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare opened the space this month. The first production runs through July.