Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1979 - 20

T he major central space of the theatre is forty-nine feet
square by twenty-seven feet high. Above the space are nine
steel catwalks, each three feet wide, spaced four feet apart,
spanning the space from north to south. Above the catwalks
is an eight-foot high work space for technicians. The catwalks
are equipped on either side with hanging rails for lighting
instruments. House lights are mounted in the floor of the
catwalks.

cealed handles for ease in installation and removal. The
fourth row of panels up from the main level, however, is
permanently mounted to conceal the cantilevered floor of the
second level and the air-moving ducts for the theatre.
The supporting studs holding the panels in position are
constructed from four by four lumber, with a steel flange at
the bottom which bolts into the cement floor (Fig. 3). They are
outfitted with unistrut rail from top to bottom on the face, and
the top is held in position with a unistrut fitting. Thus, removal
of two bolts and one unistrut fitting allows the studs to be
removed.
An additional feature in one side wall is a steel trap door
which acts as mezzanine floor in the down position, and which
may be raised to a vertical position, opening one side wall
from the main level to a height of twenty-four feet. The wall
panels and studs covering this section of wall are all removable, and a floor to ceiling opening twenty feet wide by ten
feet, six inches deep may be created if desired on this wall.

Wall Panels
The side walls of the performance/spectator space, each
forty-nine feet long and twenty-four feet high, are comprised
of a grid of removable wooden panels, each three-and-a-halffeet square. These panels are of four types (Fig. 1). The
standard panels used to form solid walls are carpeted on the
face and have two different acoustic interiors. Enough of
these exist to form solid walls for the entire space on all four
sides from floor to catwalks. Other panels include some with
Plexiglas covers for use as viewing and light-transparent
ports; some with speaker-cloth covers to conceal speakers;
and some with open frames for other uses. These special-use
panels can be inserted at any position desired by removing
one of the standard carpeted panels.
The panels are hung on vertical wooden studs with rotolock devices on the lower level, and with common barrel bolts
on the upper level (Figs. 1 and 2). The wall panels and supporting studs may be removed from any section to form an
opening at any place desired. All panels are fitted with con~L \ .::'.--,

- ,::.,- j"',/. - _ :'V':.

Floor Modules
The floor of the performance/spectator space is a concrete
pit, three feet below the main level, making the total distance
from the floor of the pit to the catwalks twenty-seven feet. The
arrangement of the floor of the performance/spectator area
may be varied through the use of modular floor blocks (Fig.
4). One type of block is three-and-a-half feet square and is

_":;.

=o~.~~.:;...:....:.,-

-'t

-;:r

.,.'rr:_·

JJ

tl-r-LL...

f

~/.~

;::;"'::_' .. ~-e- . . ::; .....- -.'.\.-..,

~==:::t:=~~
~I

,
.:. ........ )

~

"._; .* .:,.::-_ "":'";.:: .",_.£

\

~.C

~ ~'/..?._.

I

..;1

+-

'---~_:,j

c)

REFLECTIVE WAll. PANEL

1,."".. ) ' ':.

1;('';-,;

_..A.:.._ - =:? ......:..

ABSORpnVE WALl..

_c

_.:.._-=

~EL

G. DETAIL
HORIZa-JTAL SEeTON· WALL FNLS..
51
GROUND FlOOR 10 + 0'-6~

_l'h\,

-

- - - ! _~ -

.:'1

~

:~ ,

~/L x5 '::::

-r~

Fig.1.

~

J

t-I-'

j:Jf§1JRPTlVE
.q

~EL

«'
~.~.'?

7,

-?C.

~'.':;

,

:--:= -.;5" * .J:: ::-.."_- ':':':.. .
~.i_ *

....::' 5.':;

*- ; _.:--..:--

1

:;__-~

"'_'.JJ_;;_~V·:.

FASTENING
HTYP PN~.
14-6 LEVEL
K VERTICAL ~T1(X\J·'M...LFNLs .
.=r!: :''':'O~~': ~:. ~ ~Jr, :~<~;:-~:-. .:s
. /lBCNE

i' ~ ~ ;i:" '~, ~, ~

',,,-""'

---'r

,. _. -. --

.' ~~~i€;;,:~~ ~;~:i~:j~

;.~7',

L. FANEL ELE\ATICN

~

304"= l!...o"
USITT/Spring, 1979
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1979
