In the early 1960s a group of artists, poets, writers and musicians who met at the then Hope Hall Cinema, decided that the building would make a good theatre and in 1964, the Everyman was born. Closed in 1975 for rebuilding, it reopened in 1977 and there followed 34 years that shaped the careers of Willy Russell, Alan Bleasdale, Julie Walters, Bernard Hill and Pete Postlethwaite to name a just a handful.
In 2011, the Everyman closed its doors again for a £28m redevelopment, funded for the most part by Arts Council England and The European Development fund. Architects Haworth Tompkins were responsible for the design of the new theatre. Shortly after its reopening in March 2014 the project won a highly-prized RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) award for North-West Region Building of the Year and was subsequently placed on a shortlist of six for the national award.
By combining thermally massive construction with a series of natural ventilation systems and low-energy technical infrastructures, the building has achieved a BREEAM Excellent Rating (BREEAM being the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings).
The 400-seater Everyman will act as a 'creative hub' for the city. It boasts a dedicated youth and community space to house the theatre's extensive and growing work with schools and community groups as well as rehearsal space and production workshops.
Central to the redevelopment of the theatre was the appointment of leading theatre consultant Charcoalblue, whose reputation for exciting innovation perfectly complemented the vision of the architects and the wishes of the Everyman's own creative team. The 'low energy technical infrastructures' were key to the overall environmental picture, none more so than the provision for lighting and it was here that GDS, with its portfolio of award-winning and industry-leading products, entered the frame.
The brief of the entire project demanded the most stringently efficient use of energy in what was to become, to coin the architect's phrase, a "densely inhabited urban building". House lights, emergency lights and BluesSystem back-stage working lights were all to be supplied by GDS and when the Everyman team further specified the employment of a GDS SMConsole (Stage Manager's Console) and CueLight System, the first GDS full system theatre was created.
GDS ArcSystem was used for the house lights and emergency lighting throughout. BluesSystem was used in all working areas, and in excess of 100 Blue Beam and Blue Dome fixtures were put in place.
In specifying the GDS Stage Manager's console, the Everyman joined a rapidly growing list of venues whose eyes have been opened to the adaptability and flexibility afforded by this carefully developed product.
Ian Stickland of Charcoal Blue Theatre Consultants says: "When the initial house lighting scheme for the new Everyman was designed, we had resigned ourselves to using Tungsten fittings, but as the Everyman theatre is naturally ventilated and designed to achieve 'BREEAM Excellent', we were keen to explore a suitable LED alternative. With the development of the ArcSystem we were able to offer the client a low energy system that met their exacting standards for flexibility, dimming and colour temperature. We arranged for Matt Lloyd to demonstrate the installation at Bristol Old Vic to the architect and artistic director. They were suitably convinced and so the entire house and work lighting scheme was changed for the Arc fittings."
GDS managing director Matt Lloyd notes: "As we celebrate o
