The Cabaret

Located in the 1916 ornamental terra cotta-clad Metzger Building in Indianapolis, the city's premier Cabaret is now housed in the former garage of Alexander Metzger's auto showroom.

The Cabaret approached RATIO to help them relocate their offices and theatre to a new location. RATIO assisted Cabaret staff in reviewing several building options, providing schematic redesign suggestions, and helping evaluate financial and logistical pros and cons to each option. Through this process, RATIO helped the Cabaret determine that the vacant Metzger Building garage provided the best opportunity for the Cabaret to better meet the needs of the organization and support its goals for growth. 

Completed in 2018, The new Cabaret centers around an intimate yet flexible 180-seat theater with state-of-the-art sound and lighting. The renovated space includes offices for staff, a full commercial kitchen, storage, and green rooms for performers. Taking advantage of the raw, industrial feel of the space, the theater highlights the original steel trusses above and concrete floors below.

I was responsible for early pre-design efforts assisting the client find their new home through construction administration work. I assisted with conditions assessments, schematic and design development services, leading client design meetings, development of construction documents, and construction administration.