The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning builds on the RNCM's international profile and forward-thinking approach to the training of young musicians, and on its impressive record on student employment.
The project was managed for J&C Joel by Tony Griffiths, who comments: "This was a great challenge to get 'just right', but great teamwork with David Edelstein and the Triple E crew made the process really smooth. It's a good illustration of the dynamic partnership between J&C Joel and Triple E on projects like this."
The banners are designed to alter each room's acoustics according to the type of performance taking place within the environment. Each banner is constructed from two layers of vertically hung J&C Joel wool serge fabric, separated by thin gauge aluminium slats at 160mm centres - similar to a Venetian blind made opaque by the addition of the two layers of fabric.
The fabric is attached to the slats by Velcro. The male half of the Velcro is secured along the edges of the slates, while the female half is sewn horizontally onto the back of the fabric - an intricate process done painstakingly by hand at J&C Joel's HQ in Sowerby Bridge.
To raise and lower the banners, J&C Joel installed self-contained flat steel band pilewind drums which pass through the slots in all the horizontal slats, terminating at the bottom into a metal tray. The tray forms the surface onto which the banner folds and is pulled up. A shaft supported by bearings mounted in custom designed metal frames drives the steel bands onto the pilewind drums.
All this is located in a ceiling-mounted metal frame that also holds the driving motor, brake and an integrated inverter for speed control. Mounted on the rear of the fan housing and driven at motor speed is a top/bottom limit switch.
A central control cabinet houses the speed controllers. The door of the panel has a selector for each motor, activating each either singly or in groups to allow each room to be adjusted as required.
In addition to the eight banners, J&C Joel manufactured and installed Oxford blue wool serge curtains and tracking systems into 21 smaller teaching and seminar rooms. Here the curtains are designed to soften the walls and increase the room acoustic as well as provide the correct cosmetic appearance.
(Jim Evans)
