Retractable Theater Seating Helps Venue Designers

What Sort of Spectacle?

The first consideration is the purpose of the venue.

Some theaters are solely used for presenting plays but it is increasingly common for them to be used as multi-purpose venues, and so they need to be suitable for plays, orchestral concerts, rock and pop gigs, dance shows, conferences and films, which presents additional challenges for designers and builders.

All the Spaces

There are also several spaces to design. As well as the auditorium which needs to have a stage, orchestra pit and audience space possibly involving balconies and galleries, there are also backstage spaces, a foyer, bars and cafés and a box office to think about.

How Many People?

Another consideration is the size of the audience to be accommodated. You don’t want an empty theater, you definitely want it to feel busy and lively, but, on the other hand, you don’t want to be turning away paying guests either. If your theater has balconies, you have the option of closing these areas for less popular shows without reducing the experience for the audience. The alternative is to use flexible seating systems which allow you to add or remove tiers as required.

Audience Arrangement

The most widely used theatre design has a stage at one end of the auditorium. The advantage of this layout is that the audience can focus their full attention on the performance.

Seating can be arranged in a number of different ways: rectangular, semi-circular, bell or fan shaped, for example. If audience participation and a sense of community is important, then arranging the seating so that spectators can see other audience members is an advantage.

Hear, hear

The audience have to be able to see the stage and also have to be able to hear clearly. In fact, the word auditorium means “hearing place”. Acoustics need to work equally well for all the different types of event that will be hosted, whether it’s a Shakespeare play or a rock concert.

Money, Money, Money

One of the biggest challenges for theater designers is a limited budget. As they are often public buildings, funding can be very tight, briefs can change with the political landscape and clients are demanding. Adding to the constraints, environmental factors tend to be a high priority.

Sitting and Standing

If you are designing a venue that needs to be used for different types of performance or different audience sizes you need to look at retractable theater seating. For example, you could have permanent raked seating at the back of the space and, in the front, retractable seating which can be removed quickly and easily to provide standing space for music gigs. If time between events is tight, choose automatic seating which can be folded up by remote control and moved out of the way.

Comfort with Style

Finally, don’t forget about audience comfort. Some shows can involve sitting still for a long time, and you don’t want your spectators fidgeting because their seats aren’t padded or supportive enough. Choose suitable sizes and comfort levels for the typical audience and show and select colours and finishes to match the décor.