Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1977 - 23

overall area of 442 sq. meters and weighs 49.6 tons.
The power of the lifting motor is 8.3 KW.
THEATRE AREA OF THE "SMALL HOUSE"
The small house was not conceived as a theatre in the
traditional sense, but rather as a large audience/acting
area, that is to say, acting area and house are not separated. The small building has a floor space of about 27.4 x
26.4 meters and a height of a bout 12.3 meters. At a
height of 8 meters, above the row of seats, there is a
"technical ceiling," with work and lighting platforms,
that establishes the upper optical limit of the area.
One side of the area (one-third of the floor space)
is equipped with a raised orchestra and permanent seating; the other two-thirds of the area is intended to be
used as a space for the freely applied arrangement of the
performance area, up to a size of 350 sq. meters, and for
the setting-up of additional rows of seats. The actual
acting area can thus be the middle of the room, some
area opposite the audience, or in other parts of the
room.
The small building was conceived primarily for the
dramatic theatre, but small chamber operas, dance ensemble performances, musical and film productions are
also possible. If necessary, a sunken orchestra pit of
changeable size can be created for musical performances. For this purpose three platforms (18.8,23.4, and
28 sq. meters in length) were supplied. (See ground
floor plan). The platforms can be lowered 3 meters and
raised 1 meter. With the aid of these three platforms,
additional graduated arrangements of the room can be
attained without great expenditure of time.
In the back part of the right side-wall there is an
opening approximately 8 meters wide and 5.2 meters
high. Through this opening, stage props, platforms,
wagons etc. can be brought to the playing space by the
shortest route from the attached scenic storage area.
The storage area opening is closed off by a safety curtain.
A gallery has been installed along the three outer
walls at a height of about 5 meters. It is opposite the
tiered rows of seats and to the left and right of the room.
The gallery can be used for the installation of spotl ights
and floodlights for overlighting and can also be incorporated into the actual performance.
A work gallery, running parallel to the rear wall and
located in the technical ceiling, was installed as a crane
platform, which can be moved over the acting area. This
crane platform serves as a lighting bridge and as supplementary assistance for the overhead rigging.
For the fast set-up of a conventional proscenium
stage, another work platform can be lowered from the
technical ceiling and used as a lighting bridge. The side
boundaries of the portal are achieved with the aid of
two movable lighting towers.
Above the technical ceiling there is an electrically
driven set of pulleys for the suspension of scenery and
so forth. In a certain area, the sheaves of the pulleys
can be pushed sideways. The 24 individual parts of the
installation can each carry up to 100 kilograms, and all
the cables together have a lifting capacity of up to two

I USITT I

tons. In addition to the cable drum, each pulley has its
own inhibitory worm-gear. From the central control
station the worm-gear can be coupled electrically to the
common drive shaft. The electrical propulsion can be
continuously adjusted and has a power of 25KW. At all
points, limit switches were installed at the desired lift
Iimit. The overhead rigging is further supplemented by
six electrical sets of lines, each with a Iifting power of
2.2 KW. As a safety precaution a sprinkler system and a
smoke outlet were installed above the acting area.
*
THE NEW BADEN STATE THEATRE IN KARLSRUHE
Builders
Planning & Artistic Direction

Local Building Direction

Consulting Engineers:
Statics

Inspection of the Statisic
Calculations
Surveying Assignments
Stage Technical Installations

Electro-Technical Installation
Air-Conditioning Installation
Heating Installation
Sanitary Installation
Sound Technical Consultants
Grounds
Interior Art

Building Period 1970-1975
Renovated Area
Total Cost (without the
underground garage and
grou nds)
Underground Garage (416
parking places)
Grounds
Equipment (not from
resources)

State of Baden-Wurttemberg and
the city of Karlsruhe
Dip!. Ing. Helmut Batzner, Architect Associates: Alfred Baetzner,
Peter Frohne, Horst Stuven
State High Buildings Office I,
Karlsruhe
Director of Government Construction, Roland Schmitt
Engineer Organization Anselment,
Dr. Schuring, Altenkirch, Karlsruhe
Project
Director: Gronew'aller,
Engineer
Dr. Ing. E.H. Gotthard Franz,
Karlsruhe
Survey Office Egle, Karlsruhe
Technical Director Walter Huneke
Ottobrunn
Dip!. Ing. Manfred Weidner, Wernau
Dip!. Ing. Manfred Weidner, Wernau
Dip!. Ing. H. Jaeger, Stuttgart
Engineer Office Laux, Kaiser,
and Partners, Stuttgart
Engineer Office Wagner and Partners, Bruhl/Mannheim
Partnership Muller-BBM Munich
with the engineer, H. Keilholz
Prof. Walter Rossow, Berlin
Painting of the foyer and the
mirror wall: Prof. Georg Meistermann
Tapestry and painting of the
safety curtain: Lothar Quinte
Theatre Square: Erich Hauser
160000 cubic meters

c. 65 Million OM.
c. 6 Million OM.
c. 2 Million OM.
c. 5 Million OM.

Participating Firms:
Stage machinery of the Small House, Stage Rigging of the Large
Building, mobile ceiling in the house: Maschinenfabrik Wiesbaden;
the lower machinery of the Large House: Maschinenfabrik Wiesbaden, completion by Trepel, Wiesbaden; stage lighting: Reiche
& Vogel-B. Deltschaft, Siemens AG, E. Niethammer; backdrop
lift and dividing wall in the Large Building: Kleemanns' Vereinigte
Fabriken; low-voltage current installations: Siemens AG; high and
low-tension switch gears: AEG·Telefunken; electric installation
of the stage building: Rheinelektra; electric installation of the
stage and house: Brown Boverie & C ie.; stage floor: FUchter KG.

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FALL,1977

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