Located on Navy Pier, Chicago’s number one tourist attraction, the new Chicago Shakespeare Theater seeks to provide a clear and visible identity for the local cultural institution. Successful beyond anticipation, the program has grown to over 600 events per year. In an effort to attract major performers and to introduce more international companies to Chicago, the Navy Pier Authority and Chicago Shakespeare have teamed together to develop a new main stage of nearly 1,000 seats. Trahan Architects’ concept design is organized around two major elements; an outer public volume wrapped around an inner performance box. A third space, the two-level artistic support wing is inserted into an existing volume on the Pier.