Customer Projects

LANCO
Dr. Lange GmbH & Co. KG
Sure Wisch 6
D - 30625 Hannover
Germany

Contact:
Managing director: Nicolas Abé nabe@lanco.eu
Membranes:
Cornelia Schneider cschneider@lanco.eu
Tel:      +49 511 9 56 87-0
Fax:     +49 511 9 56 87-40
E-mail: info@lanco.eu
Web:    www.lanco.eu

pPod - a Mobile Theatre for the Horse & Bamboo Theatre, 2005

The task consisted in designing a mobile building that displays the unique way of staging the theatre company has developed, that can be erected by the actors themselves and furthermore is a magical object which is linked back to the early days of travelling circus. The mobile theatre tent called pPod is used for miniature puppet performances with an audience of 35 people and at most 3 actors. Shows take place indoor and outdoor.

The answer: A tent structure with aluminium poles and two separate skins of PVC-coated polyester fabric, based on a series of rectangular frames which are twisted against each other. The result of the twisting is the distortion of the sidewalls into double curved planes without the use of curved members. Stability is achieved by aluminium frames in cross direction and lengthwise by the outer fabric. The interior fabric is an opaque silver-white fabric while the exterior one is a red mesh.

Inside the tubular inner shell which is fixed at 3 circular aluminium tubes, the short shows of 15 minutes length take place. The fabric’s opacity creates a dark interior for the show lighting. Due to high frequency welding the theatre room provides protection against wind and rain

In contrast to the compact inside the red mesh allows light to go through upon the inner hull where it is reflected by the aluminium coating. The outer layer is stretched over an angular aluminium tube framework with steel joints. At night when the space between the two fabrics is enlightened the metal construction is visible.

All individual parts of the pPod are designed to fit into a van. Erection and dismantling are done by 2 trained persons in about 2 hours each.
Overall dimensions: L x W x H = 7.5m x 6.0m x 3.6m (interior 6.0m x 4.0m x 3.0m)

Credits

Client:             Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company, Manchester, UK
              contact:           George Harris, arts and development
              tel.:                  +44 (0)1706 220 241
              email:              info@horseandbamboo.org
              internet:          www.horseandbamboo.org

Architect:        Magma Architecture, Berlin, Germany
              contact:           Dipl.-Ing. Martin Ostermann grad. dipl. des. (AA)
              tel.:                  +49 (0)30 259 229 70
              email:              info@magmaarchitecture.com
              internet:          www.magmaarchitecture.com

Structural Engineering: Buro Happold, Manchester, UK
             contact:            Florian Foerster, senior engineer
             tel:                    +44 (0)161 233 5000
             email:              florian.foerster@burohappold.com
             internet:          www.burohappold.com

Fabric design, production of membranes and framework:
              LANCO -        Dr. Lange GmbH & Co. KG, Hannover, Germany
              contact:           Nicolas Abé, managing director
              tel:                   +49 (0)511 9 56 87-0
              email:              info@lanco.eu
              internet:          www.lanco.eu

Flooring:          Thein & Rios GmbH, Berlin, Germany
              contact:            Markus Rios, principal director
              tel:                   +49 (0)30 28 27 042
              email:              theinundrios@t-online.de

Photos:           Daniel Hopkinson Photography Ltd., Manchester, UK
              contact:            Daniel Hopkinson
              tel:                   +44 (0)784 844 8020
              email:              mailto:info@danielhopkinson.com
              internet:          www.danielhopkinson.com

                        Bob Frith, director, Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company
                        Cornelia Schneider, engineer, LANCO - Dr. Lange GmbH & Co. KG

Sponsors: Art Council England, Manchester, UK
tel: +44 (0)845 300 6200

                       Arts & business Head Office, London, UK
              tel:                  +44 (0)20 7378 8143
              email:             head.office@AandB.org.uk

Meliar Design
Design Office, Builth, Wales, UK, LD2 3SG
Phone: +44 (0)1597 860291 Email: info@meliar.com