Event production professionals based in Manchester, covering the North West and North Wales. Specialists in lighting, sound, and media for live events, and technical consultancy for new-build and refurbishment projects at schools, churches, and entertainment venues.

Case Studies → Schools & Education

St Thomas Aquinas RC High School

BBTS staff were invited into St Thomas Aquinas RC High School in Chorlton, South Manchester to assess the stage lighting system in the main hall. The lighting system had suffered years of neglect and had not functioned for as long as anyone could remember. The school was undergoing building improvements elsewhere and wanted to use the hall for public performances rather than solely for daily assemblies.

The hall had received a new floor and fresh coat of paint, but the school did not have the budget to replace the stage lighting system entirely. BBTS were approached to establish whether anything could be done to salvage the existing system and bring it to a safe and usable state, with the hope of getting a few more years of use from it.

Blue Box Technical Services staff undertook a detailed inventory of all stage lighting equipment and infrastructure, as well as a safety inspection of the current setup. BBTS then undertook the following work at the school:

• All stage lanterns thoroughly cleaned, visually inspected, and operationally checked
• Patchbays, dimmer, and cabling cleaned
• Re-wiring of patchbay (x5 cables missing plugs)
• Testing of fuses in all 3 dimmer packs, replacement of x8 10-amp fuses, and x8 missing fuse holders - All 3 dimmers brought into full operation
• Testing that every socket on lighting grid and low-level sockets work
• Labelling of Dimmers, low-level sockets, and dimmer power supply (previously nothing was labelled)
• Safety chains replaced on a number of Lanterns
• Incorrectly rigged lanterns rigged correctly
• Exposed cables were made safe
• A new versatile "standard rig" for the lighting was designed, and rigged to meet the school's needs
• The new "standard rig" was generated in CAD for the school, along with a detailed grid/socket layout
• Old brittle coloured filters replaced with new ones
• A list of missing items and their typical replacement costs was produced

A detailed written report was written for the school on the work undertaken. The report also made additional safety recommendations (for example, regular PAT testing and the installation of luminous tape around edges of access ladders, etc).

BBTS also advised on the possible future technical development for the main hall the school may like to consider. These suggestions were broken down into short, medium, and long term developments, and associated costs.