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The Sage, Gateshead – Bespoke Moving Structures

Creating public venues that can react and change shape to deliver the perfect event

The Challenge

Within the theatres, different acoustic characteristics are favoured by different musical styles. Opera singers and orchestras rely on the auditorium’s shape to amplify and evenly disperse their performance. However, this would prove uncomfortable for the audience during a performance using powered amplification.

The Sage needed a way to adjust the acoustic characteristics of each auditorium, transforming the physical space itself to suit the requirements of differing musical styles.

The Solution

The answer to The Sage’s acoustic challenge was found in the use of moving roof panels, stage curtains and lighting equipment that transform the actual physical shape of the auditorium.

ARX provided The Sage with a mechanical engineering package for all the theatre’s lifting equipment, lighting bars and stage risers, and mobilised the acoustic panels and curtains to create a transforming space to match the theatre’s range of performances.

Technical Details

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