Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 25

·

.

Great Hall
Hamilton Place
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Owner:
~ity

of Hamilton

Architect:
Trevor P. Garwood-Jones, Architect
Associate-in-charge/B. Harry Lennard

Acoustics Consultant:
Russell Johnson Associates

Theatre Consultant:
Bolt Beranek and

ewman, Inc,

Structural Engineers:
Omen Lee & Associates, Ltd.
S C Filer Ltd.
Canaly Otter Ltd.

Mechanical/Electrical Consultants:
Quist & Associates Ltd.
Keith Associates Ltd,

Cost Consultant:
Hanscomb Roy Associates

Completion:
1973

Seating Capacity:

ond stage platform is a permanent symphony shell, built of thick cedar. When
a symphony concen i to be staged,
some or all of the twelve caste red cedar
sound-reflectors, at each side of the second stage, are opened, or closed or set at
intermediate angles, and an eight ton
cedar wall is lowered from the stage
LOwer, filling the proscenium opening.
The chairs and music stands for the symphony are then set up on the 2500 square
foot second stage; leaving the opera,
ballet, or musical comedy stage sets in

place in the conventional stagehouse.
Since this changeover from "opera
house" to "concert hall" takes less than
thirty minutes, the high labor costs and
the scheduling problems associated with
erecting a demountable symphony shell
are avoided.
This dual-stage design also has the
acou tic advantage of placing the symphony orchestra in the same room as the
concen audience. Surrounding the audience on three sides is a large
reverberant chamber, called the Promenade. This chamber also functions as
a corridor to the main floor seating, and
as a space to meet friends during the
intermissions.
Eighteen motor-operated acoustics
banners move up and down in this
shaped Promenade space. They are
retracted fully into the attic when longer
reverberation is required and extended
when more clarity is required.
The sound rein forcement console is
located in the eighth and ninth fixed
rows on the main floor. The sound effects console is in a separate room at the
rear of the main floor.

2183

Expected Use:
Multiple-use
.* J.

Hamilton Place, a $9.7 million
auditorium which opened September 22,
1973, includes a 2183-seat auditorium, a
400-seat "black box," five small
meeting rooms, dres ing rooms, and offices for orne of the local performing
arrs organizations, including a small
music school.
The 2183-seat auditorium, called the
Great Hall. is equipped with two stages,
The one stage is convelllional, 50 feet by
127 feet, with 64 coulllerweight sets, and
a grid elevation of 70 feel. Downstage
of this cOl1\'entional stagehouse is the
second stage, a platform of approximately 2500 square feel. In this second
stage plat form are two large hydraulic
lift. The lifts can be cOl1\'erred to audience eating areas, with the aid of
motor-operated wagons (from one
garage below the stage and one below
the auditorium); or to orchestra pit use.
Abo\'e, and to the sides if, this sec-

:::J

I
l
i
--l
_.'l--.----.--Irj ---,
1-'

,

.---J

I I

GREAT HALL, HAMILTON PLACE, HAMILTON. ONTARIO, CANADA

ITT /Spring/ 1983 /Theatre Design & Technology

23
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983
