Underthe Glass - J.R. Clancy, Inc. · Secessionists; the interiors were influ - enced by the neoclassical designs of the 18th-century Scottish architect Robert Adam. Interior designer

58 • July 2011 • Lighting&Sound America

ARCHITECTURE

Under theGlassCanopy

Copyright Lighting&Sound America July 2011 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • July 2011 • 59

Leftphoto:CourtesyofthePalladium

he Palladium is a 1,600-seat,154,000-sq.-ft. neoclassic,balconied concert hall; it’s thenew home of the Carmel

Symphony Orchestra in Carmel,Indiana, an affluent Indianapolissuburb. As part of Carmel’s new,$126-million Center for thePerforming Arts, the Palladium is oneof two new structures on West CityCenter Drive that form the corner-stone for Carmel City Center, a $300-million, pedestrian-oriented mixed-use redevelopment. The project wasspearheaded by new urbanist MayorJames Brainard and represents amajor milestone in his tirelesscampaign to shift Carmel’s profilefrom bedroom community to adynamic city in its own right.

In addition to the Palladium, whichcelebrated its grand opening onJanuary 29, 2011, the Center featuresthe Tarkington Theatre, a 500-seatproscenium space set to open inAugust, and the 200-seat StudioTheatre, which opened in March.

The local community turned out indroves for the Palladium’s manypreview events and opening gala, andis visibly on board with its newcultural asset housed in a building ofIndiana limestone designed by DavidM. Schwarz Architects Inc. Thebuilding’s four-fronted symmetrical

design, massed around the domedcentral space of the single-roomconcert hall, was inspired by AndreaPalladio’s Villa Capra, “La Rotonda,”built in 1566. Its exterior detailing wasinspired by the VienneseSecessionists; the interiors were influ-enced by the neoclassical designs ofthe 18th-century Scottish architectRobert Adam. Interior designer WalterKnabe created custom wall designs.

A raised colonnade portico on thesouth façade faces Carmel Citycenter’s village green and creates agrand entrance at the top of theorchestra level. The east and westfacades provide ground-level entryvestibules, allowing barrier-freeaccess to the lower orchestra level oneach side. The north side of ThePalladium, where the natural grade ishigher, offers a symmetrical façadefor decorative purposes. Thebuilding’s exterior features more than15,000 pieces of Indiana limestone,mined from quarries located twohours from Carmel.

CSO Architects Inc. was thearchitect of record for the Palladium;Shiel Sexton Company Inc. wasgeneral contractor. Pedcor DesignGroup LLC designed the buildingacross the street from the Palladiumthat houses the two theatres. Thecomplex is owned by the City of

Carmel, which set up the Center forPerforming Arts Foundation to act asproject manager, fundraiser, andoperator. The center’s executivedirector is Steven Libman, artisticdirector is Michael Feinstein, anddirector of production is Kyle Lemoi.

Inside the Palladium, ArtecConsultants Inc. provided a range ofdesign and planning services to createa top-level acoustical environment forclassical symphonic and chambermusic, which also supports the high-quality presentation of amplified musicin other genres. Artec also provided asimilar scope of consulting servicesfor the Tarkington and the Studio. Theinaugural season calendar features aliberal dose of jazz and pop, alongwith mainstream classical, asFeinstein makes the most of thisplatform to celebrate the GreatAmerican Songbook and reinforce itsties to the American Midwest.

The Palladium is based on thetraditional shoebox-shaped concerthall with high ceilings and massive,sound-reflecting walls. The room itselfis symmetrical, from side to side andfront to back, creating a centralcolumn that is topped with a cylin-drical dome with an oculus in themiddle. The two oval spaces that fuseinto the central volume are alsosymmetrical from front to back with

A classicallyconceived

concert hallopens in

Carmel, IndianaBy Judith Rubin

TThe building’s four-fronted symmetrical design was inspired by Andrea Palladio’s VillaCapra, “La Rotonda,” built in 1566.

identical outermost walls and ceilingssurrounding the half dome. ThePalladium is one of the few concerthalls that play into Palladio’s multipleuses of symmetry.

Designing the canopyThe outstanding technical feature ofthe Palladium is its adjustable-heightglass acoustic canopy, the result of anintense collaborative effort betweenArtec, David M. Schwarz Architects,

and rigging expert J. R. Clancy Inc.,under contract to the City of Carmeland working with the architect tosatisfy both the acoustical andaesthetic requirements of the hall.

Damian Doria and Edward Areniusheaded up the Artec team. Doria andArtec project manager Chris Darlandexplain that the “traditional” Artecacoustical canopy, being both solidand massive, would obstruct theornate neoclassical domes that arekey features of Schwarz’s auditoriumdesign. “There was a lot of discussion,and, to their credit and some risk tothemselves, the architect offered theidea of a glass canopy,” recallsDarland. “Damian indicated that it wasworkable if we could get the rightthickness and weight of glass for suffi-cient sound reflection, and we startedto wrap our heads around it.”

The canopy proper was fabricatedby Waltek & Company, of Cincinnati.The finished canopy is made up ofmultiple trapezoidal pieces of glass invarying thicknesses, tilted to catchand reflect the sound frequencies andmounted in four sections on a steelframe that is raised and lowered viaClancy’s custom, dead-haul drum-and-winch system. The Clancy teamdesigned and built massive hoists withcapacities of 23,000lbs. Each of thefour hoists has a motor brake, supple-mented with a 30" diameter disk withdual airbrakes. Being transparent, thecanopy supplies the desired visuallightness, while the actual combinedweight of its reflective componentstotals some 90,000lbs.

“The canopy—and the designrestrictions it imposed—representedthe biggest technical and designchallenge we had to figure out with thearchitect,” says Darland. “It led to avery happy conclusion; everyone issatisfied, and the canopy isn’t—interms of visual aesthetics—a hulking,massive presence. It’s very cool, and ithas never been done before.”

“It looks like a modern addition to amore traditional architecture,” affirms


ARCHITECTURE

The finished canopy is made up of multiple trapezoidal pieces of glass invarying thicknesses.

Doria. “There have been other glassreflectors through the years, but thisone is unique in size and scope.”

As Artec canopies go, it is alsounique in serving only the acousticand visual functions—being made ofglass, it couldn’t also provide lightingpositions or rigging points. Instead,these functions are provided bymotorized linesets and trussesaround and between the canopy’sfour sections (more details below).

Installing andrigging the canopyJ.R. Clancy tested the canopy hoistsand its rigging gear at its shop inSyracuse, match-marked all the partswith color coding for accuratereassembly, and then trucked it toCarmel, where it was installed instages over a period of about sixweeks. “The winch mechanisms livein a very small space, and wecouldn’t fit everything in at once byany means,” noted Clancy projectmanager Bridget Cox, who spent ayear and a half on location in Carmel.“It had to be packed in pieces nolarger than 4' wide to fit through theavailable service door at the roof well.The pieces of equipment were thenlifted to the roof well door with a 90-ton crane.”

One of Cox’s early tasks was tocoordinate with Shiel Sexton andother trades that had preceded heronto the site, to initiate changes thatwould facilitate the installation—suchas having the door opening increasedto accommodate Clancy’s largestpiece of gear. “When we first wereawarded the contract, that part of thebuilding was already close to beingenclosed,” she notes. “We veryquickly started to look at access:There was no simple option forbringing things in. In some cases, itwas necessary to undo work that hadalready been done, because it wasotherwise impossible to getequipment into some areas,” sheadds. “It was mostly ductwork, sprin-

klers, and some electrical conduit.Once they started to meet with meand review our drawings, most of theother contractors on site werewonderful and agreeable tocoordinate our needs.”

After being loaded into a hallway atthe lowest level of the three-level atticabove the center dome, the gear hadto be manually hoisted to the twohigher levels. This lifting system waswhat allowed the hoists to beshoehorned into the concert hall spacewithout compromising the architecture.“Everything came in at 6' 6" abovestage level,” explains Cox. “From there,some went to 66' and the rest to 79'levels. We had just enough clearanceto raise each piece individually with ahand chain hoist.” Clancy loaded atotal of 15 hoists into the attic,including four canopy hoists. “Theheaviest pieces were the gear boxesfor the canopy hoists, at about 16' longand 3,000lbs apiece,” says Cox.

“Assembled, each canopy hoist weighsabout 12,000lbs, including the drum,base plate, gear box, and motor.”

Waltek, the fabricator, was directlyinvolved when it came to installingthe glass canopy itself. “We workedclosely with them because our cablesand our rigging attached directly,”says Cox. “We worked together onsite to move and mount the glass andcoordinate the install of the hoistpieces and the glass. Waltek broughtall the pieces in and hung them onthe frame. At that point, we were theonly ones who could operate themachinery—no one else would beable to until later, when we hadcommissioned the system with Artecand trained the operator. It was time-intensive: Things had to be movedvery slowly, at a rate of 3' per minute;to fly one canopy from low trim tohigh trim took 20 minutes. The glasspieces are very slanted, and thecanopy had to be moved multiple


The hall’s interior was influenced by the neoclassical designs of the 18th-centuryScottish architect Robert Adam.

Leftphoto:CourtesyofthePalladum;Rightphoto:BHedrichBlessingPhotographers


ARCHITECTURE

times in order to mount certain panesat certain levels. Safety was a primaryconcern for the workers, who wouldbe under the huge pieces of glass—and, eventually, the audience. ShielSexton was wonderful in thatprocess, helping ensure that all wentas it should.”

“The hoists are traveling drum zerofleet hoists, with lift lines that comedirectly off the drums to enter acomplex web of blocks,” says Cox.“The blocks divert the lift lines to thecorrect ceiling tubes through thedome. To ensure the safety of theaudience, Artec specified a ten-to-one design factor—so the lift linescan support ten times the weightrequired by the system. For additionalsafety, we added air caliper brakes ordual overspeed brakes on each hoist,and electronic load cells for each ofthe 81 lifting lines.” Technicians canraise and lower the canopies usingClancy’s SceneControl 500automated control system, whichprovides top-of-the-line motion

control and 3D visualization of theperformance space. SceneControl’sindustrial-grade controller, developedby Clancy, is based on the sameprocessor used for elevators.

There are about one hundred 4"-diameter steel ceiling penetrationtubes within the plaster domes,through which run the winch andhoist cables for the canopy. “Therewas no margin for error in thelocation of those tubes,” remarkedCox. “The cables are 5/8" indiameter, and, if placement was offin any direction, they would haverubbed against the tubes when thecanopy flew. At the time we hungthe equipment, the scaffold that hadbeen up for plastering and paintinghad come down—there would havebeen no way to get back up there toredo anything inside the plaster.They had to be in the exact rightspot, and, as it turned out, theywere, thanks to close coordinationand a good job by the contractor,WR Dunkin, who I bet didn’t sleep

well for months.” J.R. Clancy’s PaulZagajeski and Greg Dale led theteam of engineers that plotted thetravel for the spider web of cablesthrough the attic, using AutoDeskInventorRevit 3D modeling software.

Integrating the other techelements with the canopyThe existence of the motorized glasscanopies underscores that this is apurpose-built concert hall. “There’snot a big stage house for scenery,”explains Doria. “The overheadcanopies would be forever in the way,and they are much too big to takedown if you need the space to fly.”Lighting truss grids cross the domeand a lighting bridge extends betweentwo columns in the hall. There aremore rigging points where additionaltrusses can hang to accommodatesuch enhancements as projectionscreens or rock ‘n’ roll-style lighting.Additional lighting positions are foundalong the side of the auditorium abovethe box tiers.

“If there were lighting fixturesembedded, Carmel would have tohave a lift to get up to the canopy andout onto it, to physically focus thegimbeled lighting fixtures,” saysDarland. “But the way it is set up, noone has to go onto the canopies. Theycan be lowered to about 6' above thefloor for crews to clean the glass andinspect the connections.” Themotorized trusses being independentof the canopy, they can also belowered for access to the lightingfixtures. “This really was a labor-savingitem,” commented Darland.

Separating the acoustical canopyfrom other technical functions posedaudio challenges, too. “A real break-through was realizing that theloudspeaker arrays don’t have topass through the body of the canopy,which is a typical setup,” saysDarland. “What is often seen is aseries of built-in hatches that openand close to let the speakers throughwhile the canopy moves up to the

The Palladium is based on the traditional shoebox-shaped concert hall with high ceilingsand massive, sound-reflecting walls.


highest position. We couldn’t do thatfor multiple reasons.” A demountableloudspeaker array was the solution.“It weighs one-and-a-half tons, sits ina huge, metal-framed cart and lives inthe basement,” says Darland. “Itcomes up to stage level on theforestage lift. Then, the rigging pick-up lines come down through holes inthe canopy, and the stagehandsmanually connect the rigging lines,which lift it out of the storage cart intothe play position.”

J.R. Clancy was responsible forbuilding the trusses to design specsprovided by Artec and DMS—amatter of odd shapes and close toler-ances in order to fit between thecanopy segments. “One of thetrusses, by design, clears a couple ofpieces of glass by about 3",” saysBridget. “It called for pretty highcapacity material—60lbs per foot,and we ended up using a large,rectangular steel tube, about 5" by2"; that was not easy to bend and getinto the small spaces.”

Room acoustics and AV“The room acoustics are based onsymphonic sound without amplifi-cation,” says Doria, “which calls forstrength and a reverberation timebetween 1.7 seconds and 2.8seconds while maintaining clarity.There are some adjustable elements,as it needs to work for soloists andsmall ensembles all the way up to asymphony with a choir, and, one day,a pipe organ as well.” (A façade in thehall is the placeholder for a futurepipe organ.) The adjustments areprimarily via manual and mechanizedfabric curtains and provide capabilityto lower reverb time below 1.7seconds for amplified events.

A concrete, steel-and-stonebuilding mass is naturally conduciveto both room acoustics and soundisolation, and Artec kept it that way,locating the mechanical infrastructurein the basement in a vibration-isolation, box-within-a-boxconstruction that uses a series of 50-durometer rubber pads spread outand sandwiched between twoconcrete floor slabs. Additionally,there are acoustical joints on theupper levels of the building, and the

electrical equipment is housed invaults away from the main footing ofthe structure. Auditorium accesspoints all have sound locks as well aslight locks. The loading dock,backstage freight elevator, andpersonnel elevator all have double-shaft noise isolation.

A Yamaha PM5D console iscurrently the front-of-house soundboard, but will be reassigned tomonitor mix duty in the near future,with a new DiGiCo SD8 board takingthe helm. Smaller events can beserved by a Yamaha LS9-32 auxiliaryconsole. Digico boards were likewisespecified for the Studio and theTarkington. “Digico is very popularnow on Broadway,” notes Doria, “anda lot of groups that tour throughCarmel will be familiar with it.” Effectsgear includes one TC Electronic 4000reverb, one Lexicon PCM-92 effectsunit, and one Eventide Eclipse digitalmulti-effects processor.

The bulk of the loudspeakersystem was provided by Meyer. Thevariation in an otherwise straight-forward sound system design was thecenter cluster, according to GeoffZink, Artec sound and communica-tions consultant. Auditorium seatingoptions include a removable tier

facing out from the back of the stagethat can accommodate a chorus orpatrons, and a platform extension liftat the front of the stage with a customGala Spiralift that can hold 90removable seats, extend the stage, sitat slab level or form a pit.

“To address each of these areas,the center cluster has includes a totalof 13 Meyer MSL-4s, CQ-1s, CQ-2s, aUPQ-1P, and UPA fills,” explains Zink.“They are supported at the orchestralevel by UPA effects speakers and d&baudiotechnik E3 front fills. The left andright arrays are made up of MeyerMICA elements, augmented byground-stacked M’elodies and acouple of 600 HP subwoofers.”Underbalcony fill is provided by 50QSC AD-CI52ST units, powered byfour Lab.gruppen C10 4X amplifiers.The monitor system consists of fourMeyer MJF-212A floor wedges andfour Meyer UPM-1P compactspeakers. The Meyer gear was chosenfor its flat frequency response. “Theyare very accurate loudspeakers,” saysZink. “We wanted a system that canpass a vocal signal through and colorit as little as possible.”

As noted above, when notrequired, the speakers are demountedfor storage. “Taking apart and storingthe left and right arrays, which havesix elements each, is relativelysimple.” says Zink. “The centercluster is much more complicated—a9' tall cluster with many trapezoidalboxes that have to stay in the samearrangement always.” Fixed in acustom frame and installed by thesystem installer, All Pro Sound, thecluster is lowered from playing heightinto its own special storage wagon,built by J.R. Clancy. Also in the hallare four Renkus-Heinz Iconyxcolumnar array loudspeakers forannouncements during otherwiseentirely acoustic performances.

In addition to canopy rigging andcontrols JR Clancy provided stageand sound mix lifts, manufactured byGala; seating wagons and choral

“The canopy isn’t—in terms of visual aesthet-ics—a hulking, massive presence. It’s very cooland it has never been done before.”—Chris Darland

Photo:CourtesyofJR

Clancy


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risers, manufactured by CK Wegner, aEEE tracking system at every level;and acoustical curtains fabricated bySyracuse Scenery, all of which playeda major role in the adjustable roomacoustics designed by Artec.

Other sound gear, in the soundcontrol room, includes a 48x16channel Whirlwind E Snake foranalog-to-digital transposition, aCobraNet network, Peavey MediaMatrix NION and Symetrix systemprocessors, d&b audiotechnik andLab.gruppen amplifiers, Clear-Com

intercoms in the communicationsystem, a SymNet paging system,Pro Tools recording package, and aDigidesign C24 recording controlcircuit plus audio interface. Availablemics include units from AKG, Crown,DPA, Earthworks, Neumann,Sennheiser, and Shure, with directboxes from Countryman and ProCo

At the parterre wall, back of themain seating level, is an area threerows deep and covering 29 seats,which can give way to the housemix lift, to provide a live mixing

position for events that need it. “It’sa small lift with two wagons ontracks, so it’s simple to switchbetween the seat wagon or the mixwagon, optimized so that when themix wagon is up, sightlines are notdisturbed. And two guys canchange it over in 20 minutes.”

Video equipment at this pointconsists mostly of simple programmonitoring, for backstage communi-cations, and lobby latecomer monitorswith plans (and technical capacity) toinstall multiple robotic P/T/Z HDcameras in the future. There is aprojection room up at the box tierlevel (no permanent projection systemin house) with a false back wall toallow the booth to temporarily occupysome lobby space for events requiringlarge projectors.

Lighting, etc.Dr Joel Rubin designed the lightinginfrastructure for Artec, specifying atheatrical lighting and dimmingsystem of ETC equipment. Fourhundred eighty ETC 2.4K doublehigh-rise dimmers are located in thebuilding’s attic—410 dedicated toproduction lighting and 64 for houselighting. The system includes anETC Eos lighting control console.ETC Net3 drops are located at eachcircuit position in the lightingcontrol booth, the projection controlbooth, and in the center of thehouse. House lighting is run eitherthrough an ETC Unison Paradigmcontrol system located in thelighting control booth andbackstage right, or through the Eos.The fixtures are white ETC SourceFour 14° and 36° units and SourceFour PARs, plus six Philips Vari-LiteVL3000Q and 40 VL110 automatedunits. There are three Robert JuliatAramis 2.5K HMI followspots.Indianapolis Stage Lighting wasETC’s dealer for the project.

Air circulation in the hall is by wayof an energy-efficient forced-airsystem integrated into the seats. The


cool air or warm air is distributedfrom underneath the seats. “It’s nottotally unheard of, but mostly donein Europe until recently,” commentsDoria. “It’s a bit quieter. Carmel hasa good climate for this type ofsystem.” The seats were provided bySeries Seating, of Miami, Florida.

The Palladium has additional flexseating beyond that mentioned previ-ously, to accommodate ADA, camerapositions, and other needs. Thisincludes numerous pairs ofdemountable seats on the main leveland at the top and bottom of the rearbalconies, and all loose chairs on theside balconies. “Staff can take outsections and create space at amoment’s notice,” notes Zink.

The demountable seats sit on a flatplate and roll out on a furniture dolly.Going down the rows, every otherend seat has a swing-away arm. “Weworked to make the circulation fromthe lobbies into the hall as intuitive,

easy, and safe as possible. ThePalladium has a lot of stairs, and alsoelevators and ADA lifts, intelligentlyplaced and not hard to find.”

As often happens, the generalcontractor on the project had neverdone a theatre or concert hall before.Cox reports that the firm camethrough with flying colors. “They heldthe weekly meetings, and did theoverall master combined schedule forall the trades. Dave Burchard andTony Eisenhut were the main people Iworked with. I asked them toward theend if they’d consider doing anothertheatre and they said that they would.I think they really enjoyed thechallenge. Carmel was one of themost intricate theatres I’ve workedon, insofar at the level of detail. ShielSexton did very well with it.”

Part of the suite of services Artecprovided was the initial economicfeasibility and programming study,back in 1999. “We looked at other

arts centers, seeing where the gapswere, who the community playerswere,” explains Doria. “We mockedup a season calendar, consideredwho might perform, and how theywould share spaces. We also tookinto account how the organizationwould grow and created a mock-upoperating plan. Other factors: thepotential cost of the building,assumptions about what the buildingmight look like, and how it would befinished. Carmel is fortunate to have ahigh level of interest from itscommunity. Thirty-four of the 35opening events were open to thepublic—good opportunities for us totune the hall and observe operations,and also good for staff training. At thesame time, the public got to see whatwas going on, and that stimulated alot of excitement and buy-in from thecommunity—not just for a few elite,but for all to enjoy.

Sky Trackers were deployed for the building’s gala opening.

CourtesyofthePalladium

Documents

Underthe Glass - J.R. Clancy, Inc. · Secessionists; the interiors were influ - enced by the neoclassical designs of the 18th-century Scottish architect Robert Adam. Interior designer