Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993 - 37

ornell Universiry, wirh a
long rradirion in rhearre
arrs, may have esrablished
new funcrional and archirecrural srandards for
orher universiries wirh irs
magnificenr 523 million
srare-of-rhe-arr Cenrer for Thearre Arrs.
The Cenrer srands as a gareway berween
rhe rown of Irhaca, NY, and rhe universiry campus. A prominenr criric described
irs archirecrure as "knowledgeable,
worldly, elirisr, and difficulr." The innovarive design was by James Srerling of
London, one of rhe world's mosr highly
regarded archirecrs. The Cenrer is rhe
realizarion of a decades-old dream. For
rhe firsr rime in Cornell's hiswry, all
aspecrs of rhe reaching and performance
of rhearre, dance, and film can now rake
place under one roof.
The marble walls of rhe Cenrer
enclose rhe 480-sear proscenium rhearre,
rhe smaller flexible rheatre, a black box
rhearre, a dance performance rhearre,
ALFRED K. WALTER rwo dance srudios, a film forum, and
rwo acring class srudios. Supporr facili&
ries in rhe 113,000-square foor building
RICHARD S. LEE include scenery and cosrume design
shops, adminisrrarive and faculry offices,
film ediring and producrion suires, and
classrooms.
A fully equipped 50' x 75'
TWO
scene shop is posirioned ar
rhe rear of rhe building, wirh
INNOVATIVE
rruck access inro rhe high
bay area. Ir serves rhe special
ACOUSTICAL
needs of rhe proscenium rheDOORS
arre on one side and rhe flexible rhearre on rhe opposire
PROTECT THE
side. The bay area c10sesr ro
rhe proscenium rhearre is
CORNELL
rwo swries high ro accomTHEATRES FROM
modare high-rise scenery and
large props. The scene shop
THE NOISE OF
is direcrly accessible ro borh
of rhe major rhearres via
A BUSY
gianr doors.
SCENE SHOP.
The inrenrionally convenienr locarion of rhe scene
shop creared a porenrial
problem. In a universiry serring, srudenrs
are nor always available ar normal hours;

Sound
Reduction
Doors at
Cornell
Center for
Theatre
Arts

rhus, rhe abiliry w work ar any rime is
crucial w many producrions. Scenery
work cannor be sropped simply because
rhearrical productions are taking place.
Toise genera red in the busy scene shop
needed ro be effectively isolated from
both rheatres. This required the design
of tWO acoustical doors ro provide quiet
during theatrical performances.
The acoustical doors for the Cornell
Cenrer for Thearre Arts were engineered
and fabricated by Jamison Door Company of Hagersrown, MD. These sound
reducrion doors epiromize the care taken
by the architect to provide a facility
superbly equipped as a learning rool.
lOW, even during the most sensitive thearre and dance performances. stagehands
can use hammers, power rools, saws, and
welders. Delivery trucks can service the
scene shop. Bulky scenery and props can
be moved inside the shop wirhour concern.
Acousrical efficiency of rhe doors is
measured in rerms of rheir sound rransmission class (STC). Borh doors are
rated at STC-5!, a raring raken from
procedures used ro designare rransmission losses from various marerials. This
procedure and standard is defined by
ASTM procedure £413 for marerials
resred under rhe laresr ASTM £-90 srandards.
The Jamison acousrical doors are
power-operared, horizonral sliding, single-leaf doors of all-sreel consrrucrion.
Sound is reduced by a sreel noise damping design using a four-inch rhick
absorprive blanker berween fronr and
back damping steel panels. Sound-sealing gaskets complete the effective damping. Both doors are equipped wirh electrical safety sensors on rheir leading
edges. If the sensing edge conracrs anyrhing or anyone as the door is being
closed, rhe door will reverse auromaricalIy ro rhe full open posirion. The doors
can also be operared manually should
power fail. Alrhough rhey weigh 4,700
and 3,120 pounds respecrively, rhe doors
can be moved by hand wirh a force of
some 50 pounds for rhe larger one and
under 35 pounds for rhe smaller.
TD&T

1993 SPRING

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1993