Theatre Planning
A theatre of any size requires careful planning to permit the circulation of materials, equipment and people while understanding important adjacencies, unique to performance, that provides a rational program. Most theatres have four distinct zones that must be carefully inter-related: backstage, front of house, performance arena, and administrative spaces.
- Space allocation and critical adjacencies for new construction.
- Analysis of existing facilities and equipment for renovation.
- Preliminary budgets for space and equipment.
- Development of interior theatre forms, stage/audience relationships, seating layouts and sight line studies.
- Layout of dressing rooms, rehearsal halls, scene shops, costume shops, loading docks, administrative offices, box offices and audience amenities.
- Design of structural and electrical infrastructure for stage and house lighting, orchestra pit or stage lifts, catwalks for lighting positions and rigging access, gridirons and loading bridges.
- Design of resilient floors, traps and stage floor surfaces.
- Loading information of mechanical, electrical and structural systems.
- Recommendation, in collaboration with the acoustician, for room heights and wall openings.
