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Stage Technologies’ Technical Transformation of the Royal Festival Hall
Over 100 axes of automation control and machinery have been installed at the Royal Festival Hall; transforming the functional properties of the venue. ISG Interior Exterior, the main contractor for this project, contracted Stage Technologies to design, manufacture and install the over-stage suspension machinery and control system, as well as the control systems for the stage elevators and the variable acoustic elements.
The Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre is a busy venue with a huge variety of performances, many of which are just a few days long or even for one night only. This poses huge logistical issues for the production staff who must often do the ‘get-in’, rehearsals, performance and ‘get-out’ in a single day. The major refurbishment carried out at the Royal Festival Hall over the last few years presented an opportunity to add to the infrastructure of the venue to make this process easier and quicker, and to add to the flexibility of the venue. Stage Technologies worked with theatre consultants Carr & Angier , the South Bank Centre management and architects Allies and Morrison to develop the scheme that has now been implemented.
The huge number of moving elements inside this world famous venue are controlled by just five Solo handheld controllers. Stage Technologies’ small portable controllers offer an interface that is extremely easy for the stage crew to learn and enables them to operate the system from the most suitable location, by connecting to one of the many control points located around the venue. As well as being flexible and easy to use, the Solo handheld controllers also offer all the benefits of Stage Technologies’ Chameleon software, such as variable speed moves and synchronised groups.
During the refurbishment the auditorium ceiling and all the services above it were completely stripped out and the 1950’s asbestos was removed, creating a new working space over the stage area. The floor of this attic is formed of precast concrete planks with many openings to allow suspension and electrical cables to be lowered. Suspended above this technical floor is a network of secondary steel which supports the winches that move the equipment suspended below.
Four large movable lighting bridges were installed in the Hall, three of which can also be traversed up and down stage. Concert lighting bars are attached to the three traversing bridges. These can be lowered to stage floor lever for crew to position platform lighting, to maintain a safe working height. The Solo handheld controllers, running Chameleon software, make it possible to synchronise a number of axes for load sharing and use the combined lifting capacity of the bridges. This is extremely useful for lifting large mother trusses for a touring production for example, significantly decreasing the get in time and cost, and increasing the range of events that can be staged without the need for lots of custom rigging. Further over-stage suspensions are provided by three hoists for loudspeaker clusters, which can be moved up and down stage to set the optimum position. There are also three flying bars provided just in front of the refurbished organ for suspension of drapes or lighting equipment. All the flown items are wired with a mixture of lighting circuits, audio and data circuits for maximum production flexibility. To help the technical staff move production equipment into the attic, a goods hoist was fitted that descends from the centre of the ceiling in the auditorium to ground level where equipment can be wheeled on and off.
Three large acoustic reflectors, specified by Kirkegaard Associates, were also installed. These can be raised and lowered, and changed in angle from near horizontal to near vertical to change the acoustic properties of the hall. In addition to the three reflectors there are 32 roller banners, three concertina banners and 10 tapestries that can all be deployed to change the acoustical properties of the auditorium. These variable acoustic elements were provided by J&C Joel.
Delstar Engineering supplied 11 lifts to form the stage platform. These allow the stage layout to be reconfigured in many ways to suit the nature of the performance taking place. Each lift is driven by two motors so that if, in the unlikely event, either motor fails, the lift can still be moved using the other. Two small lifts are also provided in the auditorium to create a small pit for a sound desk when needed.
In picture: Stage Technologies Solo controller and BigTow2 winch as installed at the Royal Festival Hall.
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