Environmental and financial sustainability lessons:
Fig. 14: ‘Worm’s eye’ view, photo of the extract chimneys.
There was certainly an environmental ethic to the eventual design of the Contact Theatre. An obvious solution to the issue of a malfunctioning ventilation system would be to install air conditioning. Short and his team however decided against this for two reasons, environmentally it is not friendly, and financially it is costly.
The key to the financial sustainability of the building and the company was heavily reliant upon the performance of the new natural ventilation system, which makes the issues of environmental and financial sustainability intrinsic and reliant upon each other.
Fundamentally the purpose of the HVAC is to move a group of air around in a loop that passes through the ducts to the space then mixes within the air in the spaces and then withdrawn back into a large machine called ‘Air Handler’ where there are cooling, heating and other energy consuming devises. Figure 15, below shows how the air is ‘looped’ around a room. The blue balls are the air coming from outside and the red balls are the air coming back around from inside the building. Around 20% of the air in the air handler is from outside.
The main purposes of a Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system are to help maintain good indoor air quality through adequate ventilation with filtration and provide thermal comfort.
The re-design and increased funds which came as a consequence of Short’s renovation and new ventilation system, have allowed the company to expand and become as successful and sustainable as it is today, not only environmentally and economically, but socially too, Short has helped to create a building, a place of entertainment and social activity which can last and remain available for future generations to enjoy.
Design lessons:
The Contact Theatre is a very popular venue and has a busy program of events. The users are very satisfied with the building and its ventilation system. As we have learned, motorized actuators for controlling window opening are often not designed for the level of use required of them for continual, automatic adjustment of flow rates. It can be difficult to locate actuator designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and mechanically robust for this particular application.
The use of time clocks with manual over-ride, and simple user controls – spaces having % occupancy dials with a button to inform the BMS of a new setting – has worked well.
The use of time clocks with manual over-ride, and simple user controls – spaces having % occupancy dials with a button to inform the BMS of a new setting – has worked well.
The Future of Contact Theatre:
Recently the board running the Contact Theatre have decided to commission Urbed - an architecture company that focuses on urban design and planning - to analyze and propose improvements for the theatre’s building and create an effective vision for the future of Contact. As young people are core to everything the Contact Theatre does, they were involved in the design process. The young people group included, 2nd year (including one of our group members: Christia Angelidou) and M.Arch students from the Manchester School of Architecture, to work on possibilities for the future of the theatre, and eventually come up with designs for different parts inside and outside the theatre.
This ‘next chapter’ project started with identifying problems and areas that need to change. One of the initial concerns raised was that the front façade of the building looks outdated and there is no clear sign of what the building is, therefore passengers from the busy Oxford road pass by without noticing it. Moreover, the parking barrier in front of the theatre creates an unwelcoming atmosphere, making the entrance not obvious from Oxford road (see Fig. 16). Issues raised about the interior of the theatre included, acoustic problems on the ground floor where multiple spaces, like the entrance/ information area and the bar area are conflicting (see Fig. 17).
This ‘next chapter’ project started with identifying problems and areas that need to change. One of the initial concerns raised was that the front façade of the building looks outdated and there is no clear sign of what the building is, therefore passengers from the busy Oxford road pass by without noticing it. Moreover, the parking barrier in front of the theatre creates an unwelcoming atmosphere, making the entrance not obvious from Oxford road (see Fig. 16). Issues raised about the interior of the theatre included, acoustic problems on the ground floor where multiple spaces, like the entrance/ information area and the bar area are conflicting (see Fig. 17).
After identifying the issues of the building, the team involved in the refurbishment proposed some possible solutions. In order to solve the exterior problems of the building, a sculptural façade intervention could be added to provide seating for people waiting outside and also act as an attraction from Oxford road (see Fig. 18). The exterior part of the building can also be linked with the interior, extending the bar area outside and attracting more people to visit the theatre. Furthermore, a new scheme for the interior was proposed, in order to improve the overall experience of the Contact Theatre for visitors and staff. By rearranging the spaces on the ground floor as shown in the diagrams in Figure 19 the theatre will be able to function more efficiently.
Finally, a workshop was held this December 2012 where staff, board members, visitors and the team involved in the refurbishment of Contact Theatre came together, in order to discuss the issues the building faced and the possible solutions that will improve the future of the theatre. The board members are assessing the final outcomes of the workshop and the design team’s analysis, at the moment and a plan of action will be approved and put forward soon.