Northern Stage Theatre – Barrette Center for the Arts
White River Junction, Vermont –
The Northern Stage Theater is a 250 seat thrust style theater designed for maximum flexibility for use by the regional, non-profit, professional theater group. The 17,500 square foot building contains the theater with a walk-able tension grid for safe access to performance lighting and rigging, a two story lobby with concessions, offices, storage, dance studio and other support areas. The project required extremely close collaboration and coordination of the design of the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems with the Architect, Structural Engineer and Acoustical Consultant to provide a silent environment and proper space acoustics. Key mechanical design items included a ceiling low velocity displacement air handling system which introduced the conditioned air at the top of the theater, utilizing low returns to induce a low velocity air flow through the seating area. Ventilation was controlled using demand controlled CO2 sensor to allow fresh air to be delivered only when C02 levels were elevated. We applied packed rooftop equipment to align with the construction budget and worked closely with the design team to arrange the equipment and systems to meet the critical acoustical and comfort requirements of a theater space. Some of the key acoustical design components for the mechanical systems included passive acoustical attenuation silencers, exterior duct lagging and spring isolators for equipment and piping. The design included electrical infrastructure to support the theater lighting and associated electronic control system and integration of building house and general lighting to the performance lighting system.
Engineering Services of Vermont was proud to be included in the design and construction team, led by Bread Loaf Corporation who were the Architects and Construction Manager for the project.
https://www.breadloaf.com
https://www.theatreprojects.com
https://www.northernstage.org