Modernisation Highlights

Space and accessibility:

• Three entrances to two downstairs foyers, with Box Office and Sales Points away from auditorium entrances
• Foyer space per person of 0.68 square metres which now wraps equally around the auditorium
• Two new lifts to Circle, restaurant, Targetfollow and Town Close Rooms and offices
• The new lifts and a new staircase will ensure easy access between floors on both sides of the auditorium
• Ramped access to Stalls from street level
• Extra side entrance to Stalls from right hand side
• Spaces created at back of Stalls for high-backed and motorised wheelchairs
• Additional toilets on both sides of the auditorium on both levels to improve general circulation and bar service
• Ramped access to backstage offices
• Ramped route from backstage to front of house
• Access to the control room
• Improved signage
• Creation of accessible dedicated education room, the Targetfollow Room, which can be subdivided and where overhead power point provision has been made

Access:

• Automatic sliding doors from Theatre Street give unramped access to the Box Office foyer
• Box Office counters are low
• From the Box Office foyer, clearly delineated ramps take all customers down to the rear Stalls
• Stalls cross-aisle is horizontal
• Wheelchair spaces are provided in the Circle
• All ramps and slopes are clearly hatched and signalled with a tactile surface which does not impede wheelchairs unduly
• All handrails are contrasted in colour against the wall background and have consistent diameters
• Wherever possible there are handrails on both sides of corridors
• Good contrast colours have been used to distinguish walls, doors and door furniture
• Good evenly-spread lighting will help the partially sighted
• Direct ramped access has been provided from the foyer to the backstage offices
• All doors recognise wheelchair widths
• Lifts provide access to a large hospitality/education room on the first floor, the Targetfollow Room
• New telephone Box Office room is within first floor suite of offices and is accessible by lift

Toilets:

• Toilets on both sides of the auditorium at ground level
• Five accessible toilets, one on each level on each side of the auditorium, as well as the pre-existing toilet
• 33 ladies toilets on basement, ground and first floor levels on both sides of the auditorium
• 29 men's toilets on basement, ground and first floor levels on both sides of the auditorium

Ventilation and acoustics:

• All ducting and controls have been replaced
• Air is now fed in at ground level as well as through overhead vents
• Wider ducts reduce noise emission
• Electronic Architecture increases reverberation time from 0.6 seconds to 1.7 seconds, suitable for large-scale acoustic concerts
• Norwich Theatre Royal will collaborate with local promoters and musicians to co-ordinate acoustic music provision in Norwich

How our education and outreach work will improve:
Although some of our education and outreach work occurs away from the theatre, there is no substitute for bringing an adult learner, student, school pupil or at-risk child into the theatre itself, and the exciting expansion of our educational offer in recent years means we needed to bring an ever-increasing number of people into our ageing building. We had outgrown our facilities and struggled to provide full access, though we were compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. The modernisation has provided Norwich Theatre Royal with more, larger and better-equipped spaces for education, accessible to all. In particular, the Targetfollow Room, the large room on the first floor of Dencora House, will give us, for the first time, an area in which educational and vocational instruction can be carried out in private, amongst high-quality surroundings, out of direct sunlight and other distractions, and within easy reach of the auditorium. We have the ambition and expertise to continue to deliver high-quality educational work. We now have the facilities to do it even better.