Lighting&Sound - August-September 2010

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The art of multi-functionUK - The trend to build a performance space as an integral part

of art gallery complex has proliferated in recent years. Galleries

are no longer the silent, church-like bastions of the wealthy or

academia, but have become lively, welcoming, multi art-form

spaces that offer a raft of creative ideas and artistic genres.

With such a comprehensive sphere of activity, their design andspecification has to be approached with an open mind and a willingnessto engage with and understand the diversity of end users, employeesand audiences.

Andy Hayles, managing director of Charcoalblue Theatre Consultantsunderstands this well, he says: “It’s important to note that no twobuildings are ever the same, even when the brief may, at first sight, seemsimilar. We have worked on a number of performance spaces withingalleries, including The Bluecoat in Liverpool, The Hepworth in Wakefieldand Nottingham Contemporary and each venue’s design concept hasbeen governed by a plethora of external and internal influences,including location, historic context, size, artistic policy and of course enduser and occupier needs. We pride ourselves on our ability to workalongside our clients and end users to understand and translate thoseinfluences and needs into distinct, unique and future-proofed spaces.”

Gavin Owen, responsible for Charcoalblue’s contribution to the BluecoatArts Centre in Liverpool comments: “These venues have been designednot simply to accommodate performance but to host a full gamut ofmulti-media and art installation works. To ensure the space fulfils thecomplex brief we’ve had to get to grips not only with the diversity offunctions these spaces must accommodate but also the considerablerange of skill level available when it comes to using and understandingthe installed entertainment technology. All this in the context of creating a space that can still deliver the creative wow factor!”

The Bluecoat Arts Centre, designed by BIQ architects, hosts a thrivingand vibrant community of artists, practitioners and creativeorganisations. Traditional barriers between art and the community arebeing broken down and the venue is used by all sectors and all ages.Creative activities at Bluecoat range from silversmith and set design,marketing and millinery to visual arts and vocal coaching.

For Owen it’s important that the performance infrastructure is state-of-the-art, yet simple to understand and operate. He says: “Bluecoat’s multiconfigurable performance space is intended as a venue for music,dance, drama and multimedia events, it also has to comfortably hostcorporate events. Comprising a single large studio, it’s equipped with anaudience bleacher which seats 200. A semi-sprung floor makes thespace ideal for dance and the fixed lighting grid mounting has beenfuture-proof designed to allow it to be upgraded to a winched ormotorised system at a later date.”

Charcoalblue also provided the design for the performance-relatedtechnical systems and advised other members of the design team onissues relating to performance within the building. Owen says: “Thespace has a number of rigging positions: Oxford Sound and Lightinstalled two fixed pipe grids. In addition, vertical sections of Unistruthave been fixed to the wall on three sides of the space to provideadditional rigging positions for scenery or lighting.”

A mezzanine within the space has a single internally-wired lighting barand the perimeter of the space is equipped with a continuous curtain

As a growing number of art galleries embrace a multi-functional

business model for their spaces, Sarah Rushton-Read looks at

three such installations and asks if multi-function has to mean

multi-compromise . . .

From top: Nottingham Contemporary; The Hepworth Gallery Project, Wakefield; The Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool.

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track. Owen continues: “The challenge was to equipthe space for dance and drama performances,whilst being sympathetic to the very higharchitectural finish required by the architects. In flatfloor mode the space will be used as an art gallery,but it also has the ability to quickly transform into a seated room in a variety of configurations.”

Bryan Biggs, artistic director at The Bluecoat, says:“What we now have is a gem of a space, due to thearchitect’s vision and, significantly, the quality ofCharcoalblue’s input. Andy Hayles and his teambrought a pragmatic yet imaginative approach, theirhands-on technical know-how, advice andenthusiasm for the project proving invaluable.”

Getting a ‘feel’ for a new performance space’satmosphere, technical specification andinfrastructure, in the context of a building as a whole,can be a challenge; often the client doesn’t want theroom to scream ‘multi-purpose’, but neither do theywant it to look like a studio theatre. Patch-bays, plugboxes and technical infrastructure have to blendseamlessly with the architecture of the room.

This was very much the case at NottinghamContemporary: designed by architects Caruso StJohn, it is one of the largest venues for temporaryexhibitions of modern art in the UK. Jack Tilbury,project director for Charcoalblue and project co-ordinator at Nottingham, says: “Clients want thespace to perform as easily as an art gallery as itdoes a dance studio or performance space. Theywant the transition between different uses to besimple, effective and quick to achieve. Get-in andweight-loading decisions of both ceiling and floorare crucial, as is ensuring the communications anddata wiring are future-proofed.”

The artistic team at Nottingham wanted the venue to have the feeling of a ‘found space’ rather than a theatre, Tilbury says: “The space caters foreverything from large-scale sound sculpture,photography and interactive installations to cinema,video, club nights, conference and live performance.In response we designed a discreet flown lighting,sound and AV rig comprising a series of trusssquares that fit neatly between the concretecrossbeams of the ceiling. This means the lightsdon’t hang below the lowest part of the beams,making them almost invisible.”

Lighting and sound control is similarly discreet. Themezzanine / balcony ‘control position’ can doubleup as a raised gallery space. All patch bays andsockets are secreted in dips under the sprung flooras opposed to cluttering the smooth lines of thewalls. There’s also plenty of portable lighting, AVand audio equipment, which can easily anddiscreetly be deployed anywhere in the building.

Similarly at The Hepworth Gallery Project, the higharchitectural finish could not be compromised.Senior Charcoalblue consultant and project co-ordinator Adam Crosthwaite explains: “TheHepworth is a landmark gallery, which will house theBarbara Hepworth maquettes, as well as a numberof other permanent and temporary exhibitions. Weworked closely with David Chipperfield Architects todeliver a multi-function performance room that canbe used to host lectures and seminars associatedwith gallery exhibitions, as well as by outsideorganisations for community events, seminars,meetings, music events, film and festivals.”

3RD

Knight of illuminationawards

STLD

www.knight-of-illumination.com

London, Hotel IBIS Earls Court12th September 2010

International

E N T E CSOUND & LIGHT

Nottingham ContemporaryLighting:ETC ION 1000 with 2 x 10 fader wing

ETC Smartfade 12/48

Zero 88 Betapack III portable dimmerrack

ETC Source Four junior 15-30° Zooms

Selecon Acclaim 650 c/w barndoors

Selecon Rama HP fresnels 1200

James Thomas PAR Cans 1kW

Audio:Martin Audio WT2 2-way compacttrapezoidal loudspeaker

Martin Audio WS 2A bass-reflexsubwoofer loudspeaker

Yamaha PC9501N dual-channel amp

QSC RMX 4050HD dual-channel amp

Soundcraft GB8, 32-ch analogue desk

dbx DriveRack 260 loudspeakersystem control

dbx 1074 quad gate 1U dynamicprocessor

dbx 1046 quad 1U channellimiter/compressor

dbx 1231 dual 31-band graphic eq

Mics:Shure Beta SM58

Sennheiser E614 - condenser

Audix D6 - kick drum microphone

Sennheiser E904 - instrument mics

Shure SM57 - instrument mic

Stage Monitors:Turbosound TXD-12M Monitorloudspeaker

Yamaha PM5000s amp

dbx 1231 graphic equalization

Portable PA:Soundcraft EFX12

Denon DN-635 CD player

Sennheiser ew365 G2 radio micreceiver

RCF ART 322-A 400W bi-amplifiedloudspeaker

RCF ART 705-AS 800W sub

Conference System:Shure Beta SM58 dynamic super-cardiod microphone

Sennheiser ew300 G2 transmitters

Shure MX412/C lectern microphone

Denon DN-635 CD player

Sony SRP-X100 rack-mounted audiomixer

DJ Equipment:Pioneer DJM8000 DJ mixer

Pioneer CDJ1000 DJ CD deck

Technics SL1210 Mk5 DJ record decks

RCF ART 312-A 350W bi-amplifiedloudspeaker

Shure SM58 mic

Pioneer SE DJ5000 headphones

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Charcoalblue specified removable looseseating for approximately 100, stage lighting,audio-visual infrastructures and looseequipment plus a retractable projection screenwith high-brightness projector. To maintain thecharacter of the room a number of fixedlighting bars have been recessed into coffers inthe soffit.

There is no fixed control position: instead a presenter’s lectern (manufactured by projectinstallers, Northern Light) accommodates a wireless AMX touch-screen panel. This givescontrol over room/house and work lighting,stage lighting, audio-visual systems and otherinstalled equipment. Alternatively, a rollingequipment rack housing an ETC Expresslighting console and a Midas Venice audio

mixer can be deployed for a more theatricaluse of the space.

Unusually for a performance space, almostan entire wall is glazed, offering views acrossthe adjacent river. Windows have been fittedwith motorized fabric blinds (also controllablefrom the lectern) and manual sliding panels,which enable the room to be shaded orblacked out as required.

Crosthwaite explains: “The systems havebeen specifically designed to facilitate easyand flexible control over the technicalsystems whilst being as discreet as possibleto ensure the character of the room ispreserved. All floor-level facilities panels arehidden behind sliding doors and lightingoutlets are incorporated at high level into therecessed coffers in the ceiling. Boom lightingpositions for dance are also concealed behindthe sliding wall panels. Importantly, beca5

use a professional technician may not alwaysbe available, all the control systems aredesigned to be user-friendly and intuitive.”

ETC Sensor dimmers are located in a separatedimmer room, and loose equipment is storedin a room adjacent to the multi-function space.A 63A three-phase power supply is locatedbehind the sliding panels, allowing extradimmers to be brought in if necessary.

Multi-function does not have to mean multi-compromise. Just because a space isrequired to cater to a variety of different uses, itdoes not mean it has to make concessionswhen it comes to room character, style orpersonality.

Hayles concludes: “Over the past three yearsthese exciting and dynamic multipurposespaces have become an integral part of manylively and diverse local communities. ‘Art’ in allits forms is now celebrated in these galleries -it’s been a privilege for Charcoalblue to workwith such inspired and driven design teamsand clients to achieve some very specialbespoke spaces for performance.”

> www.charcoalblue.com

Lighting&Sound - August-September 2010

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Bluecoat Arts Centre, LiverpoolProduction Lighting:72 ways of ETC Sensor Dimming wiredto distributed outlets within the space

ETC Express 250 memory console.

Work-lights are managed from an ETCUnison ER4 Rack

Loose stage lighting includes:Selecon Acclaim

Selecon Rama

James Thomas PAR Cans

ETC Source Fours

Audio:Martin Audio Blackline

Yamaha amps and EQ delay

Allen & Heath 32-channel GL2400

Allen & Heath WZ 14:4:2 mixing

Tascam MD350 minidisc recorder

Yamaha Q2031B stereo graphicequalizer

Yamaha SPX 2000 digital effectsprocessor

XTA DP224 loudspeaker managementsystem

In addition a number of video cameras,recording and playback equipment wasspecified along with an LCD videoprojector and display monitor.

Hepworth Gallery, WakefieldLighting: ETC Sensor dimmer rack, 72 ways

ETC Express 24/48 - 2-preset console

ETC Source Four Jr zoom profile

Selecon Acclaim PC 650

Audio:d&b audiotechnik Q10 2 loudspeakers

d&b audiotechnik Q-SUB loudspeakers

d&b audiotechnik EPAC amplifiers

Midas Venice 160

Denon DVD 2910 universal player

Yamaha SPX 2000 digital effects processor

Sennheiser 500 series receivers

AKG CK97-CVR

Sennheiser 550 handheld radio mics

Video:Sony RDR-GXD500 SMR rack-mounted5.1 audio decoding DVD video recorder

Kramer VM54 video distribution amplifier

Christie LX500 video projector (5200 ANSIlumens), plus motorised zoom lens

HVVF300/25 Home view 300/225 remotecontrol Video projection screen

Ampetronic ILD 252 Induction loopprocessor

Custom made Presenter’s lectern (NorthernLight) with integral Denon DVD 2910

Adam Crosthwaite.

Jack Tilbury.

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