The Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) provides its students with specialist education and preparation for a career in music, theatre and performing arts.
In June 2011 RWCMD opened a £22.5m performance and rehearsal complex incorporating the 160-seat Richard Burton Theatre and the Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall. In a major installation J&C Joel designed and installed stage machinery and equipment in both venues to help establish them as facilities in which the college's students can perfect and perform their craft.
The Richard Burton Theatre provides teaching space for some of the UK's most exciting young actors and also hosts many of the RWCMD's annual dramatic performances.
In order to equip the theatre to stage a wide range of performances J&C Joel installed 28 versatile four-line front and back guided counterweight sets, each with a flying height of 10m. These were fitted along with 8.5m wide extendable ladder framed extension bars.
The theatre's stage was dressed in a complete set of stage curtains manufactured from J&C Joel's black Premier Wool Serge (WS090) and a front/rear projection screen in twin white (PVC055) was mounted at the rear of the stage. A wall mounted manually operated pilewind winch unit was also installed on the stage's fly floor to raise and lower the proscenium header.
A complete rigging system was also designed for the stage lighting and speakers within the theatre. A box truss was installed to the front of the stage that is raised and lowered using a 1,000kg four-line single speed electric pilewind winch unit. A pair of moveable side lighting ladders were also installed at either side of the theatre.
As a concert hall and teaching facility for music students, the Dora Stoutzker Hall was fitted with 46 black wool serge acoustic motorised roller banners containing over 750sq.m of black Premier Wool Serge (WS090). The banners can be deployed independently of each other allowing the acoustics of the hall to be adjusted to suit any performance.
As well as its acoustics, the hall's seating layout is also adjustable. J&C Joel designed and installed three fully motorised shaped chorus risers powered by Serapid rigid chain drive transmission systems. A seating wagon elevator with a Gala lift system was also installed to the front of the stage. This can be lowered and the first two rows of seating to be removed. The platform can then be raised again to act as either extra floor or staging space. Four large shaped portable seating wagons were also supplied which allow for different seating configurations.
To allow for the safe rigging and de-rigging of performance lighting and speakers within the hall three manually operated two-line pilewind speaker winches were installed along with four 1,000kg four-line variable speed electric pilewind winch units.
(Jim Evans)
