Consultant Pieter-Jan Kapp - better known as Kappie - from PJK, created a technically sound and user-friendly venue that would do credit to any school in the country. For the lighting in the school hall he specified Philips Strand dimming, Philips Selecon Acclaim and Rama fixtures, a Philips Strand 250ML console, six Robe 250 AT Spots and a few faithful Longman LED Pars. DWR Distribution supplied this equipment, as well as a stage curtain track manufactured by Rob Young.
Kappie has had the opportunity of working on numerous installs right from the foundation phase: "Understanding the building industry better helps a lot," he says. "Building a relationship with your suppliers and the on-going support you get from a team like DWR, makes it easier."
It also helped having a client with a vision, and right from the start, Midstream Ridge Primary wanted to do things the right way to ensure that their school hall would be so much more than just another building. They approached Kappie after visiting Atterbury Theatre - he was the theatre consultant when it opened its doors in 2011 - and the brief was simple: 'We need a well-equipped school hall that will cater for all the primary school and college needs with quality equipment and good acoustics.'
Kappie opted for equipment that would offer reliability, was well priced and could be topped off with great technical support. "The greatest challenge was to find the right combination of equipment for the budget and then to motivate the client to spend a bit more to do it right and it paid off," he said. He adds that the steel workers strike did not help with the deadline either.
Dave Whitehouse from DWR concludes: "It was great working with Kappie. It's always good to work with someone so knowledgeable about theatre and who goes the extra mile to find out exactly what the client wants. It makes life easy, you can bounce ideas off him - and at the end of the day, the school receive a lovely deal."
(Lee Baldock)
