Theatre Consultant

Drama by Design are theatre consultants for sound, lighting, staging, seating, rigging, curtains and track systems

Technical Consultancy Services for Theatre, Education, Architectural and TV Studios

Drama by Design are professional consultants in the UK on all technical aspects of performing arts and drama venues including theatre, education, architectural and TV studios. We can get involved at any stage of a project from providing feasibility studies during the initial stages, through to general and/or detailed design, planning, provision of full technical specifications for all specialist lighting, sound, communications and stage engineering systems.

We provide a comprehensive range of solutions to building professionals and owners, including:

• Feasibility studies, planning and programming assistance
• Architectural layout, seating and sight lines consulting
• Architectural and speciality lighting design
• Theatrical equipment design, specification and commissioning

The links on the right will provide you with further information about why to use a technical consultant and what you can expect to achieve.

Services

Drama by Design provides a wide range of technical consultancy services.

These pages provide an insight to the services we can provide, but these can be tailored to meet your requirements so please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your requirements in more detail.

Our on line Project Extranet enables our clients to have access to all documents relating to their project at any time.

Please click one of the links on the right to view more information about some of the services we offer.

Philosophy

Our aim is to ensure that any new or renovated performing arts venues provide not only the best possible facilities for the performers and technical staff, but also meet the expectations of the public and ensures they feel part of the experience.

We want to extend the boundaries of theatre design to cater not only for the needs of today, but also for many years in the future.

Our consultants years of experience both working as technicians in the industry and working on a wide range of installation projects around the world, ensures that we can provide a balanced, cost-effective solution for all requirements of a modern performing arts venue. We will always endeavour to find the most economical solution to ensure the long term success.

Our service doesn't end when the installation is handed over, we will maintain contact throughout the initial period of use and provide help and advice to ensure that the staff are happy with the systems and the project aims have been achieved

Portfolio - Education

Our team have designed systems for a wide range of education projects across the UK ranging from small primary school upgrades to complete technical systems for new PFI funded secondary schools and academies. The following are some of the projects they have been involved with.

Chafford Hundred Campus

The cool-looking, split-level building is imaginatively designed by Nicholas Hare Architects, with a central lift and an impressive atrium. Built for the future, it combines the principles of energy saving with a flexible space for learning and recreation.

The design brief was to provide a simple-to-use system that offered the latest technology and was suitable for school productions and additionally, for when the space is used by the local community.

The versatile performance space features a hall with an end-on stage. A sound proof screen can be pulled across the stage front, allowing the stage-side space to be used as a drama studio, while the hall itself can be utilised simultaneously for other activities.

Two separate systems are therefore installed - that can be combined when required.

The hall features a stage at one end with an acoustic wall to enable it to be separated from the hall and used as a drama studio.

Kingsford Community School

Design of a comprehensive technical installation for the theatre, dance and drama studios plus a recording studio.

The new school site opened in September 2002 and has modern and superb facilities for learning. The school is technology rich and able to implement new and innovative ways of teaching and learning using information technology, video conferencing and computer learning systems.

The systems were not only designed to be suitable for a wide range of productions and to satisfy the curriculum, but also for use of the building b the local community out of school ours.

Oaks Park High School

Oaks Park High School has been built as one of the most hi-tec secondary school's in Ilford and perhaps the whole country, construction work only being completed in March 2003. The school will provide state of the art facilities as we try to equip students for working in a rapidly changing world.

Drama plays an important role in the school and the technical facilities were designed to provide a flexible infrastructure with a good equipment specification that can be enhanced in the future. The building features a multi-purpose hall with a stage at one end that can be divided into two separate drama studios with acoustic sliding doors. The sound, lighting and curtain track systems are therefore designed to be equally flexible

Portfolio - Theatre

Our staff have extensive background experience working in theatre, including regional, West End and touring. Projects they have worked on all over the country include complete sound and lighting systems for the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, complete sound system for the Wakefield Theatre and Opera House. The following is some information on some of our more recent projects:

Orchard Theatre Dartford

The sound system designed for the Orchard theatre in Dartford consisted of Nexo speakers, Crown amplification, signal processing from Sabine and a Soundcraft console.

The theatre initially provided a basic specification and three different systems were proposed, of which two were demonstrated on site. After hearing the results of the shoot-out, the Orchard's staff decided to go with the Nexo system.

The system provided excellent, even coverage across the whole of the auditorium and incorporates all the protection features demanded by the client, although the system is so powerful, the chances are they'll hardly need it anyway.

Marine Hall, Fleetwood

The Hall was first opened in 1935 and provides a range of arts and entertainment for locals and visitors to the area from live music to dance and drama, comedy workshops, festivals and pantomimes.

The sound system therefore had to be as flexible as possible, yet compact to ensure minimal intrusion into the architecture of the building.

Portfolio - TV Studios

Technical requirements in TV studios have developed considerably over the past few years and Drama by Design can ensure that your studio utilises the very latest technology to ensure it's usability for years to come.

BBC Northern Ireland

The project involved the News studio and Studio B which were refurbished and a new digital infrastructure installed to enable widescreen programming for the station’s News and Current Affairs output.

The system was designed to provide state of art features and utilise the very latest in equipment, but remain easy to use on a day to day basis.

It was essential that any of the control systems could be utilised to control any of the studios dimmers or for studios to be combined and controlled from one central control room. The whole installation is therefore controlled via Ethernet, although DMX distribution has also been installed. A range of Ethernet nodes include a custom studio floor panel for each studio with flat screen monitor, remote control and macro panels. This gives full control of the system for rigging and focussing.

The control room also features a PC-driven screen and LCD projector running CAD software, that gives a graphic indication of each lighting state and aids selection and editing during plotting.

As part of the project a complete new lighting installation was required in Studio 1, previously a music studio, it has been transformed into a modern TV drive in studio facility with internally wired lighting grid, digital dimmers and new control systems for both studio and house lighting.

Fountain TV Studios

Fountain are one of the UK's largest independent television studio facilities and provide services to the main broadcast networks, as well as international clients and independent producers.

Fountain has two large studios with a dividing wall that can be opened up to provide one huge space.

The new lighting system was designed to not only enable the dimmers and the whole studio complex to be controlled via Ethernet, but also provide status-reporting information from the dimmers in the control rooms.

One of the main requirements at Fountain was to be able to connect a moving light to any outlet in the building and switch this to hard power rather than dimmed power. A dimmer installation was designed to provide this features.

Fountain were determined to ensure that their new installation offered the very latest in technology and would enable them to provide high quality lighting for many years to come. To this end the installation included a complete DMX and Ethernet distribution system throughout the studio complex. DMX splitters are permanently installed in the control rooms with portable units available for use on the rig. Ethernet nodes are also installed in the control rooms with portable nodes available on the rig. The entire system can be configured over the Ethernet, including system status indication and system wide software upgrades.

This was particularly important as Fountain has the unique facility of a motorised, sound proof door between the two studios which can be opened to provide one enormous space. However, this requires the control system and dimmers to either be used as two stand alone systems, with potentially a different show in each studio, or to be used as one system with all dimmers and DMX/Ethernet outlets controlled from one console. Utilising the Netserver software this can be achieved in seconds.

Portfolio - Architectural

Lighting of building, both interior and exterior, has become increasingly popular and we have extensive experience in providing the optimum in dramatic effects and defining space with the use of the latest in lighting technology, whilst ensuring the durability and minimal maintenance of the system.

Systems can be anything from a basic, static, interior lighting system to major building lighting systems controlled remotely via radio and/or the internet. definition of space through the use of the latest in lighting technology.

The following are some of the projects we have been involved with.

St Johns Beacon, Liverpool

Our team devised a system to architecturally light the impressive 400 ft high St John’s Beacon tower in Liverpool. It consisted of colour changing high power luminaires mounted on the tops of the adjacent buildings with a custom-designed interactive control system, based on radio links and operation via a telephone handset.

St John’s lighting up times are approximately 8 p.m. to midnight during the week with a 2 a.m. extension at the weekends, with the exact times being dictated by the seasons and natural light conditions. Lighting is initially a slow cross-fading effect every evening, incorporating 15 different colours. However the unique computerised control system also offers additional versatility as and when required.

It’s been designed to work via a security-code-protected telephone handset, so DJ’s playing out at Radio City can change colours for special occasions, e.g. pink for the Love Hour, green for St Patrick’s day, etc. It’s also intended to use the Beacon lighting for running promotions and charity events where the public and local businesses can call in and sponsor colour changes, etc.

We have been providing the Education sector with a specialised theatre consultancy service for many years, and in that time have completed hundreds of theatre consultant projects all over the UK and overseas.

Our expertise covers architectural and acoustics, stage lighting, sound and communications, audio visual, video and integrated control systems, staging and rigging,
seating systems and layouts, conference and presentation, dance and concert scenarios.

We will advise as theatre consultants on every level of requirement, whether it be a simple drama studio refurbishment of a lighting or sound system, to a full scale new theatre or major conversion. Our wide experience has ensured a complete understanding of the difficulties of providing multi-use and flexibility in schools, where not only do Performing Arts facilities generally have to cater for both drama and music, and acoustic requirements are at the opposite ends of the scale, but also exams, conferences and presentations, dance, assemblies and the one-off parents’ days, prize giving etc.

Health and Safety requirements are becoming more and more important in such spaces, yet at the same time, the curriculum for drama studies requires a greatly increased level of technical expertise. This creates a fundamental contradiction, difficult to surmount. As Drama by Design are active at all levels of the theatre business, including professional theatre, foreign projects including conference centres in Bahrain to drama studios in Scotland our understanding of the complexities and possible solutions, and of course compromises to the issues however they occur, is highly developed.

Contact

If you require any further information about the services we offer or would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your requirements, please feel free to contact us.

If you require general information about the services we provide please complete our Enquiry Form, however if you require a quotation for consultancy services please complete our Design Brief Form.

Or use the contact details below:

Drama by Design Limited

16 Tawfield, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YU

Tel: 0845 644 3846
Fax: 0845 644 3847

Email: info@dramabydesign.com

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