University of the Arts London

Retractable and Fixed Seating for Theatre

University of the Arts London

Brief

Seating was a major issue for the key users of the building as this needed to be extremely flexible, comfortable, intimate and that would accommodate in excess of 300 people. The seating on the balcony also had specific requirements, not only did they need to be removable but also needed to either face the stage or directly forward for performances below.

Result

Hussey Seatway provided a bespoke seating solution for the space. The main floor consisted of three retractable seating units with the outside two set at an angle to ‘embrace’ the stage and bring the audience as close as possible to the performance. Special features incorporated into the system included back lit aisle letters and intermediate aisle rails. On the balcony custom Gallery Extra chairs were provided, these were designed a with a swivel feature to allow the chair to turn through 45 degrees, additionally certain rows featured ‘high leg’ chairs to improve sightlines for the audience. We also installed a further 176 fixed chairs in a separate lecture theatre and provided 200 HDS stacking chairs for use throughout the venue.