Strabane Cultural & Arts Centre

Doran Consulting was appointed by Strabane District Council to provide the civil and structural engineering services for Strabane's new Cultural & Arts Centre. The scheme provided a 266 seat auditorium which has been designed to facilitate musical, dramatic, dance and cinematic performances in addition to lectures, conferences and public meetings.

In order to accommodate an eclectic range of cultural events, a high degree of flexibility has been incorporated into the design, such as retractable seating, rostra, staging and proscenium. An orchestra pit has also been included whilst the ancillary accommodation includes a large lounge bar, gallery and exhibition area.

The structural form comprises a reinforced concrete framed structure, supported on continuous flight auger piles. The auditorium roof consists of pre-cast concrete plates with in situ topping, supported on steel trusses. The fly galleries, lighting galleries, sound galleries, crossover galleries, scenery grid and loading gantries are suspended from the steel roof trusses, thus avoiding internal columns which could obstruct audience views of the performance areas.