The first stadium seating theatre I saw was IMAX in DC in 1976 and I said to myself, “Self, all theatres should be like this.” So I had the idea first and I should be rich.

For the record, my business partner, Ky doesn’t like stadium seating at all.

I kind of like it. One theatre by me is a Pacific 16 that was put into an old Costco store. As a result they had to make a few compromises in the design. The ceilings were not high enough so the dug pits for the screens to sit in. as a result the entrances and emergency exits and the handicapped seating are all on one plane. This plane ends up as the first quarter of the auditorium. This works really well. I like to sit there so if I were handicapped I wouldn’t mind being there. The stadium angle is also rather shallow; there is only one step between seat rows. I like this. The steps are very even. There is 8’ from the projection port to the back row. Looking at the picture, my head seems to be square on my shoulders. This theatre uses 7-inch risers.

The new 14-plex that was built in this town has really steep stadium seating. There are two steps between rows. The steps aren’t evenly spaced. The back row is right under the projection port. As I entered the second to last row while the trailers were playing, my head got into the picture. At the end to the film, I crossed each row on the way out and my head entered the picture down to five rows from the back. I am 6’4” tall but still this seems to be too much. The handicapped seating is in the front row. The entry and exits are on the bottom of the rake. I feel as though I am always looking down on the image on the screen. This theatre uses 14-inch risers.

Since the projection booths are usually on the same level regardless of how big the auditorium, I have noticed an alarming trend. As the houses get smaller the stadium risers get taller. In one theatre in Denver, I get vertigo in the smallest houses and don’t in the larger houses. UA Colorado 9 where the largest houses have 4” risers and the smallest houses has 9” risers.

I like Continental seating. This is where there is no center isle and there are only side isles. Stadium seating usually takes this approach. I was thinking of a hybrid design where the front two thirds of the auditorium is a traditional slope and the back third is a shallow stadium. We all know that stadium seating is harder to clean. So perhaps this would help. Stadium seating costs 50% more to build and perhaps a hybrid design would save some money. Anyway this hybrid design is as far as my business partner will go.

p.s. My two favorite houses in Denver had very shallow stadium seating. The Continental has 2” risers and the, dearly departed, Cooper had 4” risers. These two houses were built in the 1960s.

 |  IP: Logged

 |  IP: Logged

I myslelf prefer steep slope with offsetting seating as opposed to stadium style. It was Century who started the whold stadium style in the first place, about 60 years ago. Trust me, the whole stadium thing will go away in a few years, its just a fad.

Dave

Dave

 |  IP: Logged

 |  IP: Logged

 |  IP: Logged

The stadium configuration is also obviously impressive to patrons as they enter the auditoriums. When coupled with SRD and lots of QSC poweramps, these auditoriums quickly remind the patron that they are in the presense of something that they cannot get at home (unless they are related to Bill Gates *grin*).

I really don't think it's a fad either. It places allot of people in front of a screen without making them feel as if we crammed them in there.

Russ

 |  IP: Logged