The Dean Trust School Theatre Installation

It’s about the facilities and opportunities this hall provides and when we showcase events or do assemblies it helps us in demonstrating our high standards. It endorses our high standards, because for us high standards are not just academic, they are about every aspect of school life – including our facilities.

Ms S. Finlay, Headteacher

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The Requirement

The Dean Trust have a reputation for making transformative changes to the schools they manage and, with their first new-build school, wanted to make sure it represented excellence from the very beginning. Three spaces within the new school required a significant performance audio/visual provision: a multi-purpose Activity Studio, a Sports Hall and a centrepiece Main Hall that was to be equipped to the highest standards.

The Solution

A member of Dean Trust staff, who had worked with Adlib at another school, recommended the company to the Trust. During a meeting at Adlib HQ, outline proposals for ‘Bronze’, ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’ level specifications were presented and, during the tour of Adlib’s facilities that followed, key items featured in those proposals were presented and demonstrated to Trust representatives. It rapidly became clear that this was to be very much a ‘Gold’-standard solution.

The Activity Studio received a pair of Coda Audio D20 loudspeakers, providing the true full-range audio befitting high-energy dance classes, without the need for subwoofers which would otherwise obstruct the floor. Chauvet SlimPAR lighting fixtures were supplied on two bars to support use for Drama lessons and a 7000lm Panasonic projector ensures presentations can be seen clearly, despite the large windows.

The Sports Hall was equipped to deal with whole-school presentations and, as such, uses a JBL CBT200 line source loudspeaker system to accurately limit coverage to the intended audience area and minimise reflections. A pair of 8500lm Panasonic projectors display on matching 4.8m motorised screens. All exposed equipment is housed in Adlib’s own, bespoke armoured housings.

The Main Hall is the pièce de résistance and has been described by Tarun Kapur CBE (Chief Executive, Dean Trust) as his “favourite part of the school”. It is equipped to a standard of which many commercial venues would be envious and features a Coda Audio TiRAY loudspeaker system featuring one TiLOW and six TiRAY flown per side, with a pair of U4 dual-18” subwoofers under the stage. The school's stage lighting system is all LED by Chauvet and Osram and features 24 moving lights, from a total of over 50 fixtures. Projection is again by Panasonic. In addition to the electronic equipment, a Prolyte demountable stage and a full drape system were installed.

The Result

Thanks to Adlib’s excellent relationships with suppliers, including our status as the exclusive UK distributor for Coda Audio’s line array systems, we were able to offer competitive pricing on industry-standard equipment, ensuring that Dean Trust Ardwick is not only brilliantly equipped for its own school lessons and productions, but also ready to take on additional revenue streams through the hire of their venues. An ongoing collaboration between The Dean Trust and Adlib ensures that staff and students receive training and are supported by Adlib engineers as required.

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