Having supplied, delivered and installed fixed tiering and lecture theatre seating for over 20 years to the University, we were invited to enter into discussions with the project architects, Ellis Williams Architects, to provide a detailed design to fulfil their complex brief.

Opening to the public in Spring 2022, the £22.1 million purpose-built teaching and performance centre offers a world class teaching experience for students and a new cultural landmark for the city. The centre includes the 400-seat Tung Auditorium with space for a 70-piece orchestra, as well as the state-of-the-art 600-seat Paul Brett Lecture Theatre.

As a testament to our expertise and reputation, SIS Global Seating were entrusted to work on three projects within the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre; the Paul Brett Lecture Theatre, Tung Auditorium and Lecture Theatre 1, a 450-seat traditional lecture theatre space.

All three spaces required fixed tiered structures as part of the seating package works. The first task involved working in conjunction with Ellis Williams Architects to provide tiering and seating layouts to achieve the design brief seating capacities. Several alternative seating layouts were provided for consideration and, as a result of this process, a comprehensive seating arrangement for each space was achieved which met the design brief.

One particular challenge was that the fixed tiering in each space had to span over ducting underneath the tiers, as the tiers formed a sealed plenum in each theatre. This was particularly complex in the Paul Brett Lecture Theatre, as the design of the tiering had to span over the ducting, while still achieving the loading requirements to maintain the structural integrity and continuity of the tiering above.

Our team provided many custom-made sections of tiering, with tiering treads that incorporated swirl air diffusers for the distribution of the air-conditioned air from the plenum below.

In total, our team at SIS Global Seating designed, supplied and installed 452 seats in Lecture Theatre 1 and 605 seats in the Paul Brett Lecture Theatre. We also supplied and installed a total of 401 seats in the Tung Auditorium, in both the main auditorium hall and gallery area.

The seating in Lecture Theatre 1 and the Paul Brett Lecture Theatre followed the traditional style of lecture theatre seating previously installed by our team at the University of Liverpool, as well as many other universities around the UK. However, our innovative installation provided all three theatres with removable seating and writing ledges, to allow flexibility of seating arrangements and inclusion of wheelchair spaces and people with reduced mobility.

This flexibility went one step further in the Tung Auditorium, which incorporates a bespoke skid base with rise and fall castors, to facilitate the easy transportation of the removable seating to their required storage areas.

Standard chairs were also customised with new seats and side panels to meet the University’s exacting requirements, including additional design modifications to the chairs in the Tung Auditorium in order to meet the exacting acoustic requirements.

At SIS Global Seating, we’re known for offering the best and most attentive service in the industry and the team were on hand to provide many additional services within the project design and build, including layout design, standards compliance, site surveying and project management.

For over 25 years, our experts have been at the forefront of innovative design; producing and installing world-class custom seating solutions. Manufactured to rigorous international standards and installed with unrivalled attention to detail, each of our systems are custom designed to meet the most demanding project requirements.