The Pavilion Plans Part 10 – Storage, Stairs and Goods Lift

This is the tenth in my series of articles about the plans for the Pavilion. Storage space maybe the least sexy part of a building, but it is one of those things you can’t afford to get wrong!We have to have a goods lift, even though it is a really expensive item, as we cannot lift all the gear that is required for concerts, theatre, exhibitions or even table-top-sales without this lift. We will also have to move the re-movable chairs talked about in post eight. The lift will have to use the south staircase by the stage as it is the only position in the building that can access all the floors. The Stage and under-stage area are both on different levels to the ballroom. To achieve this it will have to have three doors, one opening at ground level and at storage level facing south. One door will be facing north to give access to the ballroom and the final one accessing the stage and the under-stage area. We will therefore require a new staircase which will go around this lift and connect the stage, under-stage, sun terrace, storage area and the toilets. This will be in a new building beside the stage and under-stage extension to the Pavilion. This staircase extension leads to larger extension on the south side of the Pavilion and beside the Mining Museum; it will run the length of the ballroom and be two stories high. I will talk more tomorrow about the lower floor tomorrow, but the upper floor will be our store and plant room. We need a store for all those seats talked about in part eight, there will be 4 carousels; a number of staging pieces that would be used to extend the stage; portable equipment for the flexible use intended for the building; and finally staging props that are regularly used and better not to store off-site. The philosophy and justification for this extension will be discussed in detail in post eleven. But the upper part of this building will be very useful to us, even if not very sexy! Gregor