If you’re considering retractable seating, it’s important to consider other types of flexible seating too. And these don’t necessarily replace retractable seating. We might be able to combine one or more of these with retractable seating to create a really unique design that works perfectly in your space.
1. Airstages plus Removable Seats
Great For:
Creating tiers that can set at different rake angles, optimising sightlines for different stage set ups
Creating tiers below stage or floor level
Creating a tiered space that can double as an orchestra pit
Creating a tiered space that can double as a stage
Airstage is our incredibly sturdy hydraulically operated platform system. Airstages have scissor legs which sit in a shallow pit so that their decks are on a level with your floor. To raise each module, you simply insert handles into sockets in the deck. The hydraulic mechanism takes the strain of the operation, which feels smooth and effortless.
In some venues, Airstages are housed with their base well below floor level. This allows for modules to be lowered in steps to create tiering below the level of a stage – effectively creating a raised stage from a flat floor.
You can choose to add loose chairs to the tiering, or for quicker set ups, we can supply Matrix chairs which are supplied in groups.
2. Retractable Platforms plus Removable Chairs
Good For:
Creating low tiering to maximise capacity or overcome a low ceiling
Improving sightlines at the rear of a stalls area or in front of a rake of retractable or fixed seating.
Yes, technically this is retractable seating, but it’s not a full retractable system with chairs attached. Having chairs that fold away inside the retractable platforms means you need a row rise of at least 260mm, so sometimes removable chairs are a better choice. You do need to consider where you will store the chairs. We can supply the platforms with sockets for quickly attaching groups of chairs.
These low rise retractable platforms at The Roundhouse are also mobile and are removed completely from the auditorium when the seats are not in use. The seats are attached to sockets on the platforms.
3. Modular Stages or Structures plus Removable Seats
Good For:
Very irregularly shaped spaces where retractable seating might not work.
Giving you the flexibility to have staging units that can be used either as a stage or as tiering.
There are some undeniable disadvantages to modular, demountable structures. They take far longer to set up than retractable seating. They need significant space for storage. And the set up is more complex – the “what goes where” problem!
Don’t forget that if room height is your limitation, you could also consider a low rise retractable system (as above) or a Double Row Depth retractable system, where each platform houses two rows of chairs.
However, in some situations, modular stages or structures do give the flexibility a space needs. The structure shown here at a village hall consists of our Fix stages plus the hall’s own banqueting chairs.
