Queen Margaret's is a Cablenet tensioned wire grid installation in the Studio Theatre in the Student Union building at the £50 million Queen Margaret’s University College (QMUC) in Musselburgh, south-east Edinburgh.
Queen Margaret University specifically requested that a Slingco Cablenet was installed in the new theatre, following its huge conceptual and practical success at their previous Gateway Theatre in town.
The grid measures 11.1 metres long by 8 metres wide and is secured at 5.5 metres off the ground, creating a fully enclosed space above. It was assembled on the floor by the Slingco team and lifted into place using chain hoists before being secured to the building steelwork. Slingco’s consultations with Buro Happold ensured that the right steels were in the correct places to make this a smooth manoeuvre.
The tricky element of the grid installation was in fitting it around the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) ducting which was already in place when the grid went in. This took a bit of calculation, recalls Chris, but the operation went completely seamlessly on the day.
The grid will be used to house the theatre’s lighting rig, together with some sound equipment. The hangers and the hand-railing for the Cablenet are made from the same 43.8 mm diameter tubing as that of standard theatrical lighting bars for additional versatility – allowing them the option of using these for lantern storage or for clamping lighting fixtures in place for performances.
This was a seriously high profile project with which we were proud to have been involved.
We can install Cablenet in new buildings or retro-fit to old; we can construct it in virtually any size or shape; and, using the experience we’ve gained since first introducing the system more than 20 years ago, we can design it to provide an economical solution to even the most challenging of building layouts.
