| Main Auditorium
The design of this space provides:
- raked stalls and tiered balcony for theatre, music, dance,
drama and conference presentations
- flat floored hall for banqueting, exhibition area, dance,
music and numerous activities that require a large internal
flat floor.
Access for those members of the audience and theatre staff who
rely on the use of a wheelchair will find that their requirements
are embedded in the design of the arts centre, both in the public
and non-public backstage facilities.
In flat-floor mode the auditorium appears as a distinctive internal
space around an attractive hardwood auditorium floor. In theatre
mode the fixed quality-seating, lighting and floor reads as a
contemporary theatre interior. The stage/audience relationship
is designed to read as a single space, a coupled stage and auditorium
in a one-room concept theatre.
The stage can be framed at each side by the use of stage towers.
The stage towers adjust not only the width of the presentation
area but also the depth of the available stage. The stage towers
can be removed altogether from the stage area to allow maximum
available stage space. A fly-tower over the main stage area and
stage contains 30 single purchase counterweight sets housing lighting,
masking and scenery suspension.
The lighting positions over the auditorium use a tension wire
flooring solution which will allow not only able bodied technicians
to work safely in this area but provide equally safe conditions
for wheelchair-bound technicians and allow lights to point in
the opposite direction to the stage and light into the flat floored
auditorium.
The flexibility of the auditorium allows an area format to be
created in the stalls and will be entirely suitable for a range
of uses from mayor making to children's theatre. The main theatre
capacity is 270 at stalls level and 130 in the balcony.
The stalls level control room for lighting and sound can be operated
in an 'open' mode placing the operators in the same acoustic space
as the audience and so benefit from sharing and sensing the audience
response. Projection room facilities have been included above
the balcony level.
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