Theatre Re-arranging

I am currently in the process of arranging my theatre so that it all fits into place. It's really difficult due to floors lacking in some area and seating in others. 

The most difficult bit at the moment is finding places for the toilets and the lift in the main auditorium. I am planning on also putting toilets on the second floor but I haven't got that far yet. I thought I worked out where to put the lift but then I started on the first floor and the lift ends up on the balcony, in the middle of the seats. Time to re-think. I think the problem I have is that the only foyer space I have is above what I want to be rehearsal/multi-functional space and you can't really put a lift or a flight of stairs right in the middle of a dance studio! In order to work it out, I will have to mark out on each floor where it can go and match up my plans.

Bits and Pieces

I find it quite ironic how one of my main themes is circulation and I completely forgot about disabled access to the upper floors. Darn. I am still working this out but I am thinking of making it part of the landscaping. I already have exterior stairs so I can try and work them into each other although I feel I have to be careful so that it doesn't become too similar to my previous project. As the ramp will have to reach a height of about 3 metres, I have to have a slope of at least 36 metres - going on the 1:12 gradient determined by the building regs. This, if I get it right, could be quite interesting and a key part of my intervention; the space below it can be used to create vital spaces that could be used for gathering or a cafe or spaces that could be used for pop up shops and similar.

I also had to return to the brief and make a list of all the facilities needed within my design. Some of them have already been considered and are covered by my multi studio/circulation space. One of the things I forgot about was the projection booth but I think that this can also be covered by the multifunctional space - a mini outdoors cinema could be created by closing the studio doors to create a flat surface to project onto with the steps under the stairs acting as seating - although this could only really be done during the summer months. Or I could just be boring and put a projection booth behind the circle and put a temporary/moveable screen over the stage so that the theatre doubles up as a cinema. 
There are also a couple of other facilities that I needed to consider, such as the blue screen facility and the seminar room. I feel that it would be cheating to try and incorporate these into the multi studio space but they would kind of fit. A seminar room could be created by having tables and chairs in storage and setting it up when the room is booked for a meeting. I could also transform the space into a green screen facility by, well, adding a green screen. From my knowledge, you simply need a green/blue area where filming takes place but I think I will have to look further into that. I guess I would also need to include a computer suite for editing the footage. This could relate back to engaging the community and local schools and youth clubs.
In order to show this, I think I'm going to need a number of different sketches showing each different function of the spaces. Photomontage time? Using this relatively small space to create a range of different spaces reminds me of those ridiculously small flats where everything folds up and hide away so that you can only have one room set up at a time but it's all there and when it's not needed, it gets hidden away . . . . 

A Design! . . . . Finally

After being completely and utterly stuck and void of inspiration and ideas for the past week or two, I was really looking forward to talking to my tutors to try and get a fresh look at the project. It helped when I was discussing it and what I had done. I surprised myself slightly as it felt like I had done nothing when I had a fair bit to talk about. 
Once I got home, that small spark had disappeared once again but I got out a couple of books to flick through to see if anything triggered. These were 101 Things I Learnt at Architecture School, XS and XS Green. Whenever I read the first of these, I always see something new and it gives me a new perspective. I used the other two books a lot over the summer for the first project and I thought I might find something in them that I could apply to my design.

It wasn't until last night when I really started to think about my design again that I came up with my concept. The main themes I wanted to look at were:

• Classical Theatre
• Engagement with the community ie the local primary school, the garden centre next to the site
• Circulation

My concept allows me to combine these three themes surprisingly easily, making me thing that this is the right way to go about my intervention. The origin of the idea came from talking with Clare in studio on Tuesday. She had made a suggestion a few weeks back about using steps as a grand entrance to the theatre. After modelling this, it didn't seem to work very well so I tried  dismissing that idea entirely. However, she talked about rather that stepping the landscape, having the main entrance on the first floor and this classical style staircase leading up to it. As I had already dismissed the idea of stairs, I admit that I didn't really like the idea but I did a section sketch of how it would look and having exterior stairs up to the first floor would create an interesting space below them and would allow me to explore the new possibilities of where to put the bar/box office etc. It would also create this more private space where the entrance currently is. I thought about how this could be an informal/daytime entrance with the stairs creating a shelter or gathering space.

After a whirl of brain activity and my brain going far to fast for my hands to keep up I was able to  decide what I wanted to do with the space where the current entrance is. I thought about creating private rehearsal/activity spaces for youth clubs and schools to use. This then developed to opening the building up to the space below the stairs and then creates small informal performance spaces. This then expanded to open up fully into the theatre to create a circulation space, allowing easy exits after performances.

To help me look at the possibilities of this space, I made a little model with large 'doors' between the two rehearsal spaces and to the front and back. I am really pleased with this idea and I'm looking forward to exploring it further and developing my design.