UK - Inaugurated in 1886, the old People's Palace, as it was formerly known, was originally built to provide cultural activities to its local population but tragically burned down in 1931. Rebuilt in 1936 to the west of its original site, the new People's Palace is now owned by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). This historic Grade II listed building has recently undergone a £6.3m facelift to restore it to its former 1930's style interior beauty.
Located in the heart of London's East End and home to the 770 seat Great Hall, the theatre's transformation included a lighting and audio solution supplied and installed by specialist integrators Stage Electrics.
"Queen Mary, University of London is delighted with our newly refurbished venue and we're now getting a huge amount of interest from external hirers and promoters who are discovering this hidden gem in east London," says George Foden, corporate events manager, QMUL. "We wanted to ensure the venue's technical installation could easily accommodate the broadest variety of events, and Stage Electrics immediately recognised this and responded with some excellent suggestions. We're particularly pleased with the audio installation; it's a truly stunning system in what is an acoustically challenging space, and Queen Mary is extremely proud to be the first ever purchaser of the HALO compact line array."
The lighting installed within the Great Hall was provided by Philips Vari-lite, ETC and Apollo Design. A comprehensive range of VL1100 TSD spot profiles, ETC Source Four fixed lens and zoom profiles with Apollo SmartColor PRO scrollers were used and controlled via an ETC Ion lighting console. The installation was further enriched by a bespoke pair of red travelling house curtains, finished with gold tassels hung from the motorised Triple E curtain track.
An additional red guillotine curtain was positioned behind the house curtain adding increased flexibility to the performance space. The stunning house drapes were completed with a 14m pelmet with matching pelmets for the two royal boxes and windows. On stage a full set of stage legs, borders and cyclorama were made to measure.
The sophisticated audio elements of this restoration was designed by Stage Electrics' own Jamie Gosney in association with EM Acoustics' Ed Kinsella and saw the first ever install of the Halo Compact line array system by the British manufacturer complemented with a DiGiCo SD9 console at Front of House.
Gosney explains, "I was very passionate to put forward the HALO compact line array system. I had previously heard the initial trials and was convinced that it was ideal for the Great Hall and from the moment we switched the system on - there were smiles all around."
On choosing the FOH desk Gosney continues, "QMUL chose the DiGiCo SD9 as they were impressed with how user-friendly, intuitive and flexible the desk was."
