University College of Dance is the only school of its kind for dance and neocircus in Sweden. It features a variety of courses and a lively atmosphere of challenge, innovation and experiment plus a meeting place for the arts, sciences, theories and concepts - old and new.
Right from the off, the project architects and theatre consultants agreed that a tensioned wire grid system above the full area of the theatre space was the safest and best way forward. They contacted Slingco as Europe's foremost designers and experts of this specialist technology.
Slingco received the enquiry from Dick Hasselblad of Tater-Konsult Hasselblad, who was working for Danshögskolen on the design and specification of the auditorium space.
Slingco's MD Nick Dykins and projects manager Peter Downham-Clarke first visited the site when it was still an engineering facility for the Royal Institute of Technology - four years before completion of the Danshögskolen, Downham says, "It was ideal to be involved at the planning stages of the project, this ensured that all the supporting structural elements were in place for the smooth and efficient installation of the grid."
The Danshögskolan theatre space itself is designed for flexible use, with a 242sq.m stage area and retractable seating.
The overall Cablenet system covers an area of 20m by 15.5m and is installed using five frames, the largest single frame being 15.5mby 10m. Two of the frames adjacent to each other are removable and are used to create an opening of up to 9.3 by 5.4m to rig assorted trapeze and aerial equipment.
The widest grid span is 5m, as the Danshögskolen team specifically requested that internal steelwork and struts under the grid structure should be kept to a minimum for lighting and aesthetic purposes. To achieve this, the perimeter beam specified was heavier than usual.
A comprehensive lighting rig is installed above the Cablenet, fully flexible in configuration. Danshögskolan technical staff were particularly keen on utilising contemporary lighting techniques in the space, and as the venue hosts external productions in addition to their own, they also required the time and efficiency benefits a Cablenet system brings to technical changovers and re-lights.
Now up and running, the theatre is looked after day-to-day by technical manager Per Hedengren, who says, "The grid is excellent. It makes it extremely easy for our technical crew to work the space." This project follows two other recent Slingco Cablenet installs in Scandinavia - at The Helsingborg City Theatre and Copenhagen Opera House.
(Jim Evans)
