Product category:
Refurbishment
News Release from: Theatreplan | Subject: Theatre consultants
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 26 February 2008
Record year for Theatreplan openings in
the UK
Theatre consultants Theatreplan LLP have announced that 2007 was a record year for them with the opening of no less than seven new-build and refurbishment projects throughout the UK
One of the highlights of the year was the opening of the Grove Theatre Dunstable on 23rd April for a production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat This brand new, 777-seat, GBP13m theatre for South Bedfordshire District Council is designed for drama, musicals and community events and its versatility extends to live music events, for which it provides a capacity of 1000 standing and seated
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 17 Jan 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Theatreplan's team for the Grove Theatre included Rick Clarke, Roger Fox, Liam Hennessy, Dave Ludlam, Neil Morton, John Whitaker and Charles Wass, who not only provided the scheme for the stage and auditorium - developed with Glenn Howells Architects - but also took on the role of the theatrical user.
This was not as onerous as it may seem as all members of the team are, or have been, theatre practitioners, managers or users themselves.
The brief specified a versatile auditorium for either seated or standing audience, which Neil Morton achieved by using retractable seating in conjunction with an innovative seating-wagon system and a downstage lift which converts into either a forestage extension or orchestra pit or additional rows of seats, allowing the auditorium to be changed from seated to standing format in under two hours.
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On 7th September, the refurbished Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, reopened following its GBP11m expansion.
The redevelopment includes a new 250-300 seat auditorium with rehearsal facility and outside terrace.
Theatreplan provided initial schemes for the new space, and equipment consultancy on the rigging, lighting, sound and communications systems.
Back in northwest London, Theatreplan's Charles Wass and Dave Ludlam were advising on the refurbishment of the American School's Centre for Education and the Arts, which completed in November.
The former Annenberg Theatre was to be redeveloped for teaching and the performance of drama, dance, musicals, choral and ensemble music, and this required excavation to provide increased space above the stage and to improve sightlines.
Theatreplan's team developed the rigging system and specified the goods/passenger lift and the stage lighting, sound, video and communications systems.
"Norwich's famous Theatre Royal was in need of a makeover, not principally of the technical facilities this time (it was refurbished in the early 1990s), but to improve the comfort of visitors, who were able to enjoy the changes when it hosted Glyndebourne on Tour's L'Elisir d'Amore on 13th November.
Roger Fox led the Theatreplan team which advised on improved front of house lighting positions and electrical installations and the refurbishment of the communications systems.
Peter Wilson, the theatre's Chief Executive, commented: "The client-consultant relationship has been dynamic...
we have to remind ourselves of the outstanding quality of the result".
Grease was the premiere production at the new theatre at Benenden School in Kent, opening on the 29th November.
Theatreplan's team, headed up by Peter Ruthven Hall, developed the brief for a 276-seat theatre and 80-seat studio space with the school, advised on auditorium, stage and backstage planning, and provided the engineering systems and stage lighting, sound and communications specifications.
It was one of the first venues to use Stage Technologies' new 'Beam Hoist' installation, which maximises flexibility and reduces manual handling.
November was a very busy month for Theatreplan.
Nearly seven hundred miles north in Inverness, the extensive remodelling of the extended Eden Court Theatre and cinema complexes opened to the public.
The project included part refurbishment of the original theatre, renamed the 'Empire Theatre', with new seating and a reworked front of house lighting rig.
A new 278 seat courtyard theatre, called the 'One Touch Theatre', two dance studios and two art house cinemas are housed in a major extension to the side of the original building.
Peter Ruthven Hall and John Whitaker led the Theatreplan team (which for this project included engineering consultant Clive Odom) that worked on the auditorium, stage and backstage planning, and spatial layouts for the new theatre space and cinemas, as well as developing performance engineering facilities and specifications for stage lighting, sound and communications systems.
Not only was it a year of broadly-spread geographical projects in the UK but the commissions also demonstrated the range of work filling Theatreplan's books, from new-build theatres, studios and cinemas to refurbishments and educational theatre facilities.
Will eight be an even luckier number for Theatreplan this year.
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