The Roundhouse, a vibrant venue in Camden, London, hosts an eclectic mix of arts, theater, lectures and concerts, as well as playing a crucial role in the development of the local arts community. The Grade II listed auditorium dates from the Victorian era, with beautiful iron columns recalling its function as a tramway stop.
Installing a retractable seating system around them is a challenge in itself. However, the Roundhouse has an added challenge. Any seating system used should be able to be removed from the enclosure in small sections and stored in containers in the yard. The Roundhouse already had a seating system, but it was a bulky 30,000-piece kit that took four days to install or dismantle, with a bill of £25,000 in labor. Unsurprisingly, the seats were not used often. The Roundhouse team decided that any replacement system would need to be able to be installed in a single day, which would greatly enhance their ability to organize a flexible program of events that might require a small audience area, 270 degrees of seating around a stage, or the full 360-degree “roundhouse” arrangement.
Charcoalblue’s theatrical consultants proposed a conceptual design that would solve these problems and improve sight lines and accessibility, and asked Audience Systems to make it happen. The system consists of 54 parts, each of which is a complete retractable system. Audience Systems’ engineering team created a special hydraulic ramp and custom-made crates that slide into the containers like crates, each containing eight of the smaller units. The larger units are also equipped with an integrated hydraulic system that allows them to be brought into the enclosure without the need for forklifts.
The retractable units are equipped with folding Espace chairs; the first rows of the system are too gently sloped to accommodate the seats of the closed units, so the removable chairs in clusters fit into place. A small number of stacking chairs complete the auditorium.
