Recording Studios
STARR CINEMA, TATE MODERN
Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art in a network of four art galleries. The gallery was founded in 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art. When its role was changed to include the national collection of modern art as well as the national collection of British art, in 1932, it was renamed the Tate Gallery after sugar magnate Henry Tate of Tate & Lyle, who had laid the foundations for the collection. Tate Modern, at the Bankside Power Station on the south side of the Thames, houses the Tate's collection of British and international modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present day.
With 5.7 million visitors it is in the top ten most visited museums and galleries in the world.
The 15 year old, 250 seat Starr Auditorium in the iconic Tate Modern required revitalisation to a high spec, multi-function venue to offer facilities unique to the UK.
Challenges:
The brief given was for a state-of-the-art technical solution that integrated cinema, live performance and presentation into a single facility.
The performance stage needed a full multi channel live sound capability, while the presentation facilities should provide both the capacity for high-profile corporate hire use through to internal AV educational presentations. Before the technology could be addressed the acoustics had to receive a major refurbishment. The solution involved stripping back the auditorium to the structural walls to construct a more acoustically satisfying room. Dolby Atmos was installed. Columns created sound shadows so we paired speakers to share the same audio channel so there is no sound shadowing. Base traps were put in the wall and ceiling and the speakers were concealed so that they are invisible, a move that met the approval of Tate’s project team while fulfilling the concept of transparency of the sound source.