The Delacorte Theater

Revitalizing a New York City Landmark

The Delacorte Theater, home of Shakespeare in the Park, undergoes a major renovation with a particular emphasis on accessibility and sustainability.

Tri-Lox collaborated with Ennead Architects to create the Redwood facade of the Delacorte Theater. Sourced from 25 New York City water towers, the wood was transformed into a series of linear wooden slats that form a dynamic, textured surface on the theater’s curved exterior. The old-growth Redwood, once towering trees then icons of the NYC skyline, now has a renewed purpose at this beloved Central Park venue.

Rendering courtesy of Ennead

“It rises from the landscape like a sculpted echo of the Park itself—crafted with care, shaped by intention, and built from the city’s own story. Using reclaimed redwood from 25 decommissioned water towers, we’ve woven the past into the future. A theater born of the fabric of NYC, returning to the people of NYC.“

– Stephen Chu, Ennead

Free Theater in the Heart of Central Park

Best known for its Free Shakespeare in the Park productions, The Public Theater’s Delacorte has been a destination for thousands of New Yorkers and visitors since 1962. Founder Joseph Papp created the Delacorte with a vision of theater that’s accessible to everyone, a mission that’s been realized in over 150 productions featuring actors such as George C. Scott, James Earl Jones, Meryl Streep, Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer (below, left in Twelfth Night, 1989), Denzel Washington (right in Richard III, 1990), and, starring in Twelfth Night for the theater’s summer 2025 reopening, Lupita Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, and Peter Dinklage.

Photography courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library Digital Collections

Ennead Architects designed the renovation with a particular focus on preserving the feel of the open amphitheater amidst Central Park’s tree canopy, while also building upon Papp’s original vision of an accessible theater. These updates include better sight lines, roomier seats, more than double the ADA accessible seating, and accessibility improvements to the box office, concessions, theater entrance, and backstage.

Rendering courtesy of Ennead

The Redwood facade preserves the feel of the original, wood-centric theater, an open-air structure built in response to the natural surroundings of the park. Like the Delacorte Theater itself, the locally-sourced, reclaimed wood has its own rich history and long future – one that will be apparent as the Redwood slowly begins to weather, taking on a similar hue to the silvering trees that surround the space.

A Pathway to Reuse for Locally-Sourced Redwood

Since the company’s founding, Tri-Lox has been working to divert retired NYC water towers from the waste stream and reuse the wood. Not only does Skyline Redwood have a unique local story but, as demonstrated during its previous life on city rooftops, it is also highly durable and weather resistant – an ideal wood for reuse.

This Redwood is over 500 years old and carries the story of its multiple lives in its fine, straight grain and the unique streaks that the water line left on the wood. This wood can only be sourced through reclamation.

Now, the wood’s purpose has been renewed in this public space, where it will once again be part of the cityscape. Reusing Redwood keeps more trees in the ground and extends the lifecycle of a remarkable local material – two aspects that contribute towards the overall sustainability of this project.

To realize Ennead’s vision for the theater’s textured facade, Tri-Lox designed a patterned system of varied slat profiles. The team developed a milling strategy to maximize yield based on each board’s dimensions. Although water tower wood has a limited length (rarely exceeding eight feet), finger jointing – a wood joinery technique resembling the interlocking of fingers on two hands – allowed for long uniform lengths of up to 20 feet. After Tri-Lox applied a finish to emphasize the Redwood’s rich natural tone, the slats were organized according to seven unique shapes and installed on-site in a predetermined sequence.

From sourcing to the final project, Tri-Lox worked to reshape this wood from the New York City Skyline into something new, but equally iconic. This Redwood, like so much old-growth wood that can be found in our built environment, is incredible not just for its durability but also its adaptability: it is a natural material that can be crafted into a new form, in this case a unique facade worthy of a New York City landmark.

A Circular System

This striking facade is the result of a shared commitment to circularity. Ennead’s design intent goes beyond aesthetics, also prioritizing local sourcing and sustainability. Tri-Lox’s expertise in reclamation and reuse, product development and manufacturing, all contribute toward transforming the wood to meet Ennead’s design intent. At Delacorte, design and craftsmanship come together to turn what was once considered waste into an extraordinary local resource. This project is a reminder of what’s possible when we approach our built environment prioritizing circularity and reuse – not just seeing what is all around us but also imagining what these materials have the potential to become.

Location

Central Park

Completed

Summer 2025

Architect

Ennead

Photography

PJ Rountree