SOLUTIONS: CARYL CHURCHILL THEATRE, ROYAL HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY UNITED KINGDOM
The next stage
A university with a strong reputation in the field of drama has replaced a 30-year old theatre with a highly equipped flexible space, reports James Christopher
[INSTALLED]
Unlike the black-box Studio Theatre it replaces, the new venue can be filled with natural light (Pictures: James Morris)
AFFILIATED TO the University of London, Royal Holloway University enjoys a reputation for having one of the UK’s leading drama and theatre departments, known internationally for the quality of its research in many different aspects of drama, theatre and performance studies.
The innovatively designed
Caryl Churchill Theatre, which opens this month, is a flexible, future-proof facility that also incorporates two large rehearsal studios, dressing rooms, a workshop and a new foyer. Designed by Foster Wilson Architects, a practice with a strong reputation in theatre architecture, the brick-built theatre has long shuttered windows to let in natural light. It houses an auditorium, two rehearsal studios (which can also be used for seminars), a workshop that backs directly onto the stage, two large dressing rooms and an attractive front of house area. Located in the University’s Egham campus, 30km south-west of London, the new building replaces the university’s 30-year old black-box Studio Theatre.
62 September 2013 The new auditorium offers
an increased capacity of 178 seats arranged around three sides and over two levels, with a third level dedicated to technical operations and control. The seating on the lower level is on a flexible fold-out rake. Stage Electrics was appointed by builders Morgan Sindall to supply and install the lighting and audio infrastructure and stage engineering as specified by theatre consultants Theatreplan. This includes all dimming solutions, house and working lights, DMX distribution, cabling and customised facilities panels. Theatreplan’s John
Whitaker worked closely with Sean Brennan of Royal Holloway University and the Stage Electrics team to establish the best solutions for each element and deliver a theatre that was functional, flexible and future-proof.
LIGHTING INFRASTRUCTURE New dimming solutions were chosen for the production lighting in the form of two ESR24 ETC Sensor dimmer racks with 38 dual
2.5kW/3kW dimmer modules and 10 dual 2.5kW/3kW non-dim modules. “We chose the Sensor dimmers because they appear to be one of the best products on the market in terms of functionality,” says Brennan. “I had worked with them at a previous venue and was impressed by their reliability as well as the back- up and support offered by ETC. The department had been using an Ion desk for a number of years and ETC makes quality products that are industry standard, so installing Sensors seemed the most obvious route to follow.” The Stage Electrics team consisted of design and commercial manager Mark Larcombe and technical project manager Martin Woodage. To handle the DMX distribution, they installed 19in rack-mounted Swisson 10 DMX splitter and merger boxes. DMX patches have been provided to allow the use of multiple desks throughout the venue and guarantee the system’s longevity. Stage Electrics supplied full house lighting and
working light systems, which comprise 12 iLight Ican 10A dimmers operated from pushbutton control panels and touchscreens located around the venue.
AUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE In addition to the lighting control systems, Stage Electrics was tasked to provide and install the audio, video and Ethernet infrastructure, which includes over 5km of audio cabling and 3km of video cabling. Stage Electrics’ custom-
built communications racks are sited in the amplifier and control balcony, each with mains distribution as required, and incorporate Kramer video processing and distribution modules. Patch panels for loudspeakers and microphones are installed across the building, allowing them to be moved and relocated as required for maximum flexibility. A new paging system has been installed comprising an RCF amplifier and Penton paging speakers. Show relay is provided through RCF wall/ceiling-mounted show relay speakers which are controlled by Stage Electrics-
AUDIO RCF UP 6081 80W power amplifier RCF UP 6241 240W power amplifiers BSS Soundweb BLU-100 processor Penton SENTRY6ST/EN paging speakers RCF DU 100X 100V wall or ceiling speakers Stage Electrics paging speakers AKG C568 B condenser shotgun mic Stage Electrics paging points Altair EF-200 intercom master station Altair EM2025P dual- channel intercom beltpacks Altair AM1002 intercom single muff headsets Sennheiser SI 1015 infrared modulator Sennheiser SZI 1015 infrared slave radiators Sennheiser HDI 830 stethoset receivers Sennheiser RI 830-S stereo/mono receivers
VIDEO Kramer VM-50V distribution amplifier
LIGHTING ETC Sensor ESR24 dimmer racks ETC Sensor dual 2.5kW/3kW dimmer and non- dim modules Swisson 10 DMX splitter and merger boxes iLight SCI1210S Ican dimmer 12 x 10A iLight CRP113-SS 11- button keypads iLight CRP103-SS 10- button keypads Ilight TSC30-SS Ican 3.5in LCD touchscreen
STAGE ENGINEERING Prolyte truss Loadguard chain hoists IGUS Energy chain cable management system Triple E curtain tracks
manufactured control panels and supplied with microphones and a number of
www.installation-international.com
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