Behind the Scenes at The Harman Center for the Arts
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The Harman Center for the Arts is the most flexible auditorium in North America. Not only does the theater accommodate the spoken word, but it can be adapted for dance, jazz and chamber music events with pitch-perfect acoustics and sound. It can be arranged in an open-end stage, proscenium or thrust stage. Every square foot of the building also has maximum flexibility as multi-use space. Lobbies, a multi-purpose room and a donors' lounge can serve as a support space to the theater, a stand-alone performance space, or a simultaneous mixture of both.
While acoustics are a major part of every theatre design, this 775-seat theatre presented significant challenges, including a nearby subway hub and a fire station. Isolation was essential. Therefore, the lobby structure and the auditorium structure don't touch. The architects could have chosen to disguise the gap, but they chose to highlight it. Visitors walk over a bridge from the bright lobby and transparent façade to the theatre featuring dark African-slotted wood panels and deep colors. The result is clean and sleek.
How is this possible for a facility to house enough wiring for three theaters, with nothing showing? The design is inspired by the technology performed by stagehands. The design team created flexible structures at every turn. The proscenium can be flown like a scene set. The front 100 seats sit on blocks on wagons that can be moved for different stage setups. The architecture of the stage can change. While everything from Cat-5 cable, fiber optics, Ethernet, digital audio, analog audio and speaker connections are included behind the panels, the look of the theatre remains visually intact.
To ensure that sound is heard, the project team carefully calibrated room dimensions and gave good sight lines for all 750 seats. The dark wood wall panels have horizontal slats are more than decorative – they disperse sound. At the push of a button, variable acoustic curtains behind the panels can be raised or lowered according to acoustic needs but remain hidden. The room feels the same and looks the same regardless of the positioning of the curtains.
Also helping is a Studer Vista 5 mixing console that allows the mixing and processing of various audio signals and routing them throughout the theatre. It also allows elaborate sound designs. It cuts down on the amount of equipment that needs to be at the front of house or in the mix booth because instead of having racks and racks of equipment next to the console, it's all integrated inside the console itself. Setting up a more traditional analog front-of-house setup would lose 14 to 16 seats per night, along with its accompanying revenue. A drama system for spoken word performances and a line array system for music were installed.
Movable towers on stage help reflect sound to the audience. Balcony fronts can tilt to move sound. The acoustics team used every surface they could to ensure quality sound no matter the stage configuration or the performers' location and orientation.
Projects like the Harman Center for the Arts cannot be created in a vacuum. A team of architects, design consultants, and audiovisual professionals must work in concert to make sure a venue feels and functions as good as it looks. Architects will have great success if they involve audiovisual teams early in the project and partner with AV companies that employ Certified Technology Specialists® (CTS®). More than half of architects recently surveyed report specifying the CTS credential in bid specifications because of the ability of CTS professionals to create environments that combine form and function. Discover the CTS difference!
Architects: Diamond and Schmitt Architects
Design Consultant: Talaske, Oak Park, Ill.
