Sentralbadet Scenekunsthus

Sentralbadet Scenekunsthus is a new performing arts house built inside Sentralbadet, Bergen's former municipal swimming pool, on the site that also once housed Teatergarasjen, a converted timber warehouse that served as a performance venue from 1990 to 2008. Designed by architects HLM and Haworth Tompkins, the building is jointly run through Sentralbadet AS, an operating company owned by its two resident companies, Bergen Internasjonale Teater (BIT) and Carte Blanche, together with Bergen Kommune. BIT is a producing theatre for international contemporary theatre and dance, working without a permanent ensemble and instead co-producing with established companies; it is behind two of Bergen's major performing-arts festivals, METEOR (contemporary theatre) and Oktoberdans (contemporary dance), and is led by artistic director Sven Birkeland and managing director Mette Helgesen. BIT spent 18 years without a fixed home after Teatergarasjen closed in 2008, presenting work at borrowed stages around Bergen before this purpose-built move. The building was handed over in summer 2026, followed by a testing and technical rehearsal phase in autumn 2026, ahead of an official public opening on 4 March 2027. Sentralbadet houses a 300-seat main stage (507 m², 11 m ceiling height), a 150-seat second stage (362 m², 7 m ceiling height), rehearsal studios, production and costume facilities, and a café.