INTRODUCTION
All your requirements should
be discussed well in advance with the department, so we may best
advise you on how to make your event the best it can be, and ensure
it meets your budget!
The technical department is
technically responsible for all lighting, sound, a/v, crew, health
and safety and production management of three main areas within
the complex: the Guildhall, the Solent Suite and the Lecture Theatre
- whether serviced directly, or by overseeing external companies.
The Lecture Theatre is a 118-seat venue used mostly for meetings
and basic lectures. The venue has basic sound, lighting and audio-visual
equipment available.
The Solent Suite is a 250 capacity room, which is mostly used
as an over-spill area for the Guildhall, so on larger events,
additional lighting, sound and draping may be brought in. Discos,
meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs and small dinner dances are
also catered for.
The Guildhall is the main venue where most of the department’s
energies are focused. The venue’s main feature is its flexibility,
although there is a fixed balcony within the back wall, the main
auditorium is flat. Its current maximum standing capacity is 1749,
so it puts us on the 2000 capacity touring circuit for Rock and
Roll tours - of which we typically do about 15 a year. From flat
floor, we can go to a fully seated auditorium, with a maximum
capacity of 1290. Between the two, we can cover everything from
an organ concert, to a seated dinner, student ball, fashion show,
dance event, conference or exhibition.
Technically, the venue has a basic infrastructure, predominantly
orientated towards touring techniques. The house sound system
has recently been upgraded to cover a much wider range of events,
where we would normally have had to sub hire a system in. Lighting
is reasonable with onstage illumination coming from either a grid
of open white cyc units for basic events, or a front and back
pre-rig truss of Par's and specials, which we can supplement by
hiring additional equipment if the client has the budget.
As there is no fly tower, and wing space is minimal, we do not
have suitable production facilities for full-scale theatre productions,
and as such we do not fabricate staging, costumes or scenery etc.
The department strives to service every event individually; themed
events are a speciality, with specific equipment hired in to complement
some of the larger events, to the client’s requirements.
We also aim to service all private events through the department,
and feel we can offer the best service to our clients, with our
knowledge of the venue and its capabilities.
The Technical Department covers a very mixed programme of events,
from basic school speech days, to large student balls with flown
lighting, sound and themeing. Working with clients that are new
to running events, clients that have been using the venue annually
for many years, to touring professionals, promoters and productions.
Click
here to download an overview of technical equipment with the above
document
