About the project
We handled the contract end to end — from the design documentation and the tender papers for selecting the contractor, through the construction work itself, to handing over the finished job.
The cinema in Velké Přílepy had been refurbished only a few years earlier, yet the auditorium still showed a number of serious defects. The original seats had a poorly designed tip-up mechanism that risked trapping fingers. The structure of the seating rake was inadequate too: instead of the two layers of OSB board called for in the design, only one had been laid, so the rake creaked badly as the audience moved and lacked the necessary rigidity.
Reinforcing the seating rake
As part of the refurbishment we reinforced the rake completely. First we stiffened the structure from below with several thousand structural connectors and angle brackets. Then we removed the original carpet, added a further layer of OSB board bonded over the full area and laid a new heavy-duty carpet. The original stair nosings and orientation lighting were retained.
79 new theatre seats
The contract also covered the supply and installation of 79 new theatre seats designed for safety, long service life and above all the comfort of the audience. At the client's request the plywood backs are recessed into the upholstery so that they do not protrude beyond the outline of the seat, and are finished with a custom-tinted stain.
For the upholstery we chose a highly durable covering fabric tested to 100,000 rubs, suitable for the intensive use of public cultural venues.
Result
A safe, solid and comfortable auditorium. We removed the shortcomings of the previous refurbishment and at the same time raised the standard of the whole hall considerably, both in use and in appearance.
